


The Unfortunate Werewolf

by ThatDastardCerberus



Category: Hakuouki
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Gore, Graphic Description of Corpses, Horror, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multiple Pairings, Nightmare Fuel, Psychological Horror, Romance, Sexual Content, Supernatural Elements, Tearjerker, Unresolved Sexual Tension, pairing unknown
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-02-19 05:39:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2376821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDastardCerberus/pseuds/ThatDastardCerberus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her life changed completely that night. Her life was spared, yet she was also cursed. Now she must carry a horrible secret for the rest of her life, knowing she is balancing on a thin rope between sanity and the madness of the beast within. Little does she know that that night years ago not only changed her own life, but every person she holds dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> This is the UNCENSORED VERSION. The censored version can be found on my FF.net page, That Dastard Cerberus. Previews for future chapters appear on my dA account, BloodofCerberus.

_ ~*January 23 1864*~ _

* * *

Her earliest memory could best be described as a nightmare.

Claws, fangs, fur, the scent of copper, screaming, wailing, snarling. Her senses were overloaded with information, her mind confused, her body in pain. Everything was spinning, and nothing made sense at the moment. Blurs faded in and out of view, until finally she could no longer see the pale white moon above her head.

Much like the moon above her head right now. Not quite full yet, she could still feel its power sweeping through her veins, twisting within and empowering her small stature. A part of her wished for it to be full, to unleash her power unto her foes instead of fleeing from them. A monstrous, rage-fueled entity she only knew as The Wolf.

Yet another part of her was glad. She’d hope to arrive in Kyoto a few days before the full moon had come, so she had time to find a temporary place to hide while under the moon’s spell. She had also hoped to find her father shortly thereafter, yet what little of her plan she had bothered to make was snatched from her hands from the untimely arrival of rogues only known as ronin.

Keeping her breathing steady, she leaned further back against the wall, eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of her pursuers. Opening her mouth a bit, she sniffed the air cautiously, only for her heart to stop seconds later, the metallic odor of copper rich on the gentle breeze. A scream followed shortly thereafter, causing her heart to hammer against her chest. Her hand slid up to her kodachi, and, carefully, she leaned out, nostrils flared. Her keen brown eyes soon found the source of the noise, only to wish she hadn’t.

Swords catching moonlight came down on freshly killed bodies; fast, mechanical movements, void of purpose, moved the blades up and back down, metal craving into flesh, sick, wet noises echoing through the dead silence of night.

What those creatures were, she didn’t know. She could only smell the blood, only see the scarlet liquid ooze out of the corpse as the creatures repetitively stabbed it again and again. She saw the moonlight reflect white off the hair of the monsters and the bright red of their eyes. She stopped looking when she noticed one turn, its face twisted into a gleeful expression of madness. She didn’t even bother to see if they were pursuing her when she sprinted away in terror.

All over again, she was reminded of that night, years ago, when her life changed. Something pursuing her, moonlight her only witness, terror seizing every bone and muscle in her body.

Her leg collided with something, throwing her off balance. She managed to catch herself, landing on all fours and twisting her head around to see the three monsters closer than she had hoped.

The Wolf snarled and roared, clawing inside as panic froze her in her place. The moon, though not complete, beckoned and called, and The Wolf responded, howling to be released.

She could only scream as one of the creatures raised its bloody sword above its head.

* * *

All of this was a dream. No, not quite a dream. More like a vision.

Sen blinked her eyes open, rubbing the sleep from them as she rose from her bed. The vision had started like any other, a simple dream that quickly turned into something else. This vision, however, was terrifying, to say the least. Staring at the rice paper wall before her, she thought back to how the dream played out.

A creature. A monster hidden in the shadows. It was large, ghastly, its body covered head to foot in thick fur. Its eyes gleamed dangerously, a haunting amber, much like her oni eyes. Yet there was no logic, no reason in those eyes. Only anger and hatred.

The monster slowly rose from the shadows, growing in size until it towered over every human and oni she knew. Sen trembled as she recalled how the monster had roared, its large mouth revealing sharp, lethal teeth. Its long claws reached out toward Sen, as if to drag her to the deepest pits of hell.

Cold sweat now caking her body, Sen shook her head, trying to break the spell the monster had managed to put on her, even though it was merely a vision. But it was exactly the point that it was a vision that Sen feared the worst.

Never had she dreamed of such a beast, one that bore lupine features yet still retained the image of a man. She had no name for the beast, yet she knew to fear it. It only wove death, knew only death, and nothing more.

Looking outside her small window, Sen could not shake the foreboding feeling she had upon seeing the moon. Something told her that the large sphere in the sky would be responsible for bringing such monstrosities to Kyoto. She knew it would happen, and she knew it would happen soon.

No longer able to sleep, Sen stood up and went to her writing desk. Rolling out a piece of parchment, she took to paper all that she remembered from her dream. The memory rapidly faded, as it was wont to do, yet she somehow managed to put it all on paper without breaking into another cold sweat.

Rolling the scroll back up and sealing it, she placed it off to the side, noting that she should give this to Kimigiku when morning came. But until then, she would stay awake, looking up at the moon, dreading the day her vision came true.


	2. Sharp Teeth

_ ~*January 24, 1864*~ _

* * *

_Blood soaked her clothes, pouring out of wounds struggling to heal. Deep claw marks mauled her pale skin, the tears curling back and revealing red tissue. She tried to speak, but the only sound she could utter was a weak cough, her glowing yellow eyes staring fearfully into the mouth of death._

_White, long, sharp teeth were all that encompassed her vision, and she knew that only spelled death for her, even at this young age. Her tiny body couldn’t put up much of a fight either way and, with the wounds, all hope was lost._

_She was going to die here. That much was fact._

Only the young girl suddenly realized, when the sound of a sliding door seemed to overcome all other noises, that this was nothing but a dream. Opening her eyes forcefully, the young girl was now a young woman, disguised as a boy. She blinked rapidly, trying to shake off sleep and gather her bearings.

She was alone, lying stomach down, in a room she did recognize. The room was bare, void of any furniture. A single door and a small window, both closed, were the only gateway to the outside, yet sunlight shone through the thin material of the rice paper walls, not quite brightening the room, but it did alert her to daylight. A gag covered her mouth, preventing her from speaking, and her hands and legs were bound. Her body was resting a tatami mat, the pillow and blanket long since cast aside in her fitful sleep.

Not that any of this mattered. Considering her strength, she could easily rip the bindings apart, but she needed to be careful. Slowing her breathing, her pounding heart still beating rapidly from the nightmare, she closed her eyes and used her sharp hearing. The sliding door that had woken her opened and closed again, followed by voices, masculine, speaking in hushed tones. The voices were muffled, too far away to be heard clearly, yet she managed to catch bits and pieces as they moved away from her location.

“… witness… too risky… What… Hijikata… execution?”

Despite the lack of information, she knew instantly something was going horribly wrong, and she was in the center of it. Resisting the urge to groan aloud, as trouble did tend to find her wherever she went, she instead furrowed her brow, drawing from deep within her body the strength she needed.

It was unusually rather effortless, to be honest, since she wasn’t exactly human. But with the Change so close, and her nerves completely shot from both the livid nightmare and her situation, she had to focus much harder to draw the strength to snap the ropes. Once she removed the gag in her mouth, she slowly made her way to the door, sliding it open to peek around the corner.

Only to realize someone was standing just inches away from the door. She choked on the gasp she was trying to suppress, throwing herself down to the ground, wishing again, desperately, for the full moon to be out.

The man that had been standing guard slammed the door open, glowering at her, the ropes scattered behind her, and then back at her face. She couldn’t help but stare at the face of the man, his purple eyes narrowed and glaring. She knew those eyes, or rather, she knew that face. From last night. He was the one who brought her. Him and two others. Resisting the urge to sniff the air to confirm her memory, she instead broke away from his gaze, wanting to look anywhere but at him.

“How did you get those ropes off?”

She tried to open her mouth, gaping like a fish as she searched for her voice. She couldn’t get the words to come out, though, and the man didn’t seem too particular to wait for an answer.

“Come with me.” He didn’t even wait for her reaction, just reaching out and grabbing her wrist to pull her up forcibly to her legs. Her body seemed to have gone numb, however, unable to probably respond, causing the man to drag her along, her feet uselessly stumbling after her. She could only wonder where she was being dragged to and hoped somehow, some way, she would make it out alive.

* * *

She was taken to a room, or rather, thrown into a room, full of men. She hardly had time to get onto her knees before she was questioned, calmly, by a kindly looking man wearing glasses. She answered as best she could, as simply as possible, her body tense, ready to spring at the hint of trouble.

“Child, do you know why you’re here?”

Pause. “No sir.”

“Do you know who we are?”

“The Shinsengumi, sir.”

“Do you remember what happened last night, then?”

“I was pursued by ronin until your men came and rescued me.” Straightening a bit to look around the room, she managed to spot a familiar face, a young man smiling wryly at her. “But I should thank him for saving me. I would not be alive if not for his interference.”

But, bitterly, she thought, she could have easily removed the problem of survival if there had been a full moon out last night. She wouldn’t have needed anyone, especially the Shinsengumi. Of course, the moment she thought this, she resisted the urge to physically shake her head, instead mentally pushing The Wolf-inspired thoughts free from her mind. She should still be grateful, even if she was being held under questionable circumstances.

“I was informed of what transpired last night.” The man adjusted his glasses, pausing for a moment before continuing, this time on a new subject. “You don’t seem to be from around here, am I correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“Where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Edo, sir.”

“Such a distance for a child such as yourself. What brings you to Kyoto?”

“I’m looking for someone, sir.”

“Oh, and who might that be?”

“My father, sir.”

Her body was growing more and more rigid, mentally wishing for this interrogation to be over with. If this continued, they might torture her for information. Nothing was apparently too low for the Wolves of Mibu, as the rumors say. She feared what they would find if they tortured her, especially if they waited until night…

Actually, no, that would be in her best interest. Then she could escape. Nothing might not too low for these metaphorically wolves, but, for her, nothing was impossible for The Wolf.

“And your father’s name would be…” trailed off another man, this one bearing a genuine look of concern on his face. He sat by the man with glasses, and to his other side sat her guard, the one who dragged her into this room.

She bowed her head. “Dr. Yukimura Kodo, sir.”

There seemed to be a collective gasp, followed shortly thereafter by silence. She had purposely bowed her head to hide her face from view, allowing her time to finally sniff the air. With her heightened senses, she literally heard and sensed the tension and apprehension in the air. What did she say that caused such a commotion? Did it have something to do with her guardian, her adoptive father, Kodo?

“And might I ask,” came the low growl from the man with violet eyes, “just who are you?”

Not daring to meet him in the eye, fear struggling desperately to keep the beast at bay, she quietly responded with two fateful words.

“Yukimura Chizuru.”

* * *

Chizuru was strange.

Indeed, there was a lot about her that wasn’t quite… right. She acted demure and naïve, like how most girls her age should act. And she really wanted to be like most girls her age, she really did. And for the most part, her behavior was genuine, yet there were still some things off about her.

She hated to admit it, but the moon, even when not visible in the sky, held a powerful spell over her body. She felt sick yet powerful at the same time, her body worn yet pulsating with energy. Beneath the layers of a seemingly normal girl lay a dormant power that she wished she did not have.

Yet it was such a sweet temptation, her body calling for her to give in. Every part of her body was under The Wolf’s control, her stomach, her nose, her mouth, even her loins. She salivated when the scent of meat reached her tongue; her groin ached when catching the linger scent of sex in the air. Her entire body was the enemy, and she had no power to combat it.

For the most part, she just continued to play the role she knew so well, hoping that no one would notice the subtle changes to her posture, how her back straightened as the moon grew in size, how her tone became more forceful, how she looked out with confidence as she walked. This was not how Yukimura Chizuru, daughter to the Western trained doctor Yukimura Kodo, acted, yet she played the role well, continuously fooling all around her. She had been getting better at hiding the signs, granted, but this incident was truly testing her. The fear inside her was honest. She was afraid that they will kill her, and even The Wolf feared this.

After telling the men her story, they had dismissed her, and a guard, one she did not recognize, stood outside her door. She could tell this by placing her ear against the door, catching the slight ruffle of cloth and a steady breathing. While she didn’t like the idea of having her fate discussed by strange men whom she had no experience with prior to this, she was also relieved for the small break.

 _What’s going to happen to me?_ she thought. She desperately wished to flee with her tail between her legs, to run to her father and take them both back home, far away from this city of crime.

* * *

An hour passed, and there was no sign of them. Chizuru realized there was high probability of her life ending today, if she didn’t do anything. Biting her lower lip, she paced around the room like a caged animal, ironically feeling just as such. As long as there stood a guard, there stood a chance of her getting caught.

She would have to find a way around the guard. However, he practically towered over her, and even with her heightened strength, she was afraid her body would fail her at the wrong moment. Still, if she didn’t try, she would definitely meet her end here.

 _Yet…_ She found herself staring at the door, her brown eyes filling with hope. And yet, if she could convince them that her life was worth sparing, that she did nothing wrong, that whatever she did she will never do again, then maybe she could make it out alive.

She took in a deep breath, reaching deep in for the confidence The Wolf always granted her, before, speaking loudly;

“Excuse me!”

* * *

Tonight would be the full moon; she could feel it deep in her bones.

She had thought of escaping this night, but after learning that the Shinsengumi’s goals and her own matched, Chizuru decided to stay a little while longer, hopeful that staying here will take her one step closer to her father. And since the commander swore to return her father to her, she couldn’t help but put a little faith in this human.

Yet that didn’t stop the full moon from arriving. Living over ten years with her condition, she had become quick to notice the signs that appeared days before the Change. She constantly craved for meat, the hair on her arms and legs grew quickly, and she couldn’t get herself to sit still. What was worse was the constant presence of her guards. She didn’t trust herself transforming without fully knowing what their rounds were, and who took what shift. And she also didn’t trust any of these men with her horrendous secret, no matter how she desperately wished for a companion during these restless, anxious nights.

As the sun began to set, Chizuru was glad she was supposed to stay in a room, made for herself, at all times. Even though she was certain this was another form of imprisonment, she was grateful for the privacy. She decided to use that old trick she had developed back in Edo, knowing fully well that resisting the Change would cause more harm than good, yet she had little choice in the matter.

When the moon’s light began to reach out from the night’s sky, she hid under the blankets, moving her tatami mat into a far corner, behind a screen. As long as the moonlight didn’t touch any part of her, she would not Change. However, just because Chizuru wasn’t going to change didn’t mean she could sleep through the night. The Wolf would not allow her rest, demanding her to remove the covers and allow the brilliant rays of moonlight to touch her pale skin.

So there she laid, in complete silence, feigning sleep, wishing the night to end and The Wolf to be still.

“Hajime-kun, is it your time finally?” a playful tone sung out, breaking the dead silence. Chizuru blinked, turning her head a bit to the side to listen in.

“Yes, it is,” another voice responded, this time in a drone. “Also, the vice commander would like to see you.”

She heard the first voice sigh dramatically, then the rustling of cloth. “Oh man. What’s he want now?”

Chizuru furrowed her brow a bit. If she remembered correctly, the one who was guarding her before the moon rose was Okita Souji. Thinking back to a night ago, she recognized the playful timbre of a handsome man dressed in blue, his green eyes full of dangerous and mischief. He had, ironically, been the one to rescue her from the fiend with red eyes, and the one who had voted to have her killed to avoid some sort of secret of the Shinsengumi’s from being revealed.

The other individual was harder to identify, but thankfully Okita had provided her with a vital clue in the name, “Hajime.” Saito Hajime will be her next guard, and he will most likely watch her until sunrise. Not able to help the smile growing on her face, she let out a gentle sigh of relief. Saito was a quiet man, from what little she had seen, which played in her favor. He had also been present during the attack last night, having slain the rest of the monsters. He had acted neutral during the debate, and he also taken in stride the order to keep her alive despite the insistences of others.

Okita and Saito changed posts, as Chizuru heard footfalls moving away from her location. Once Okita had left, silence once again claimed the night. Forcing herself to relax again, Chizuru closed her eyes, daydreaming of her home in Edo and her father waiting at the front steps. While it wasn’t as good as dreaming, it steeled her resolve.

She will find her father. She will leave Kyoto alive.

* * *

_ ~*February 1, 1864*~ _

* * *

A week had passed since her capture. Since the moon’s passing, Chizuru felt her energy and over-all happy attitude return with vigor, along with the departure of the dark thoughts that tended to follow her with the moon’s growing strength. Not Changing under the light of the moon had thrown her body completely out of a loop, causing her to be more moody and tired, but she tried to hide the signs by putting on a brave front.

Unfortunately, these men were more perspective than she originally gave them credit for. Harada Sanosuke, for example, seemed especially sensitive to her glum mood, having taken the time out of his day to visit her in her room and asked her if she wanted any food from the market. It had surprised her so much that Chizuru had fumbled through her words for the next few seconds, with Harada chuckling softly in front of her, before reaching out and playfully ruffling her hair.

Toudou Heisuke, the youngest captain of the Shinsengumi, found time in his day to talk to Chizuru. He had insisted she call him, “Heisuke,” as most people did anyway. Even Nagakura Shinpachi, who had originally been against letting her live, softened up to her, teasing her that, since their discovery of her gender, they had to treat her kindly. Other members, such as Sannan Keisuke and Inoue Genzaburo, were also kindly, yet they also were both very busy and didn’t offer much time.

The commander himself was also a very kind man, although he didn’t spend much time with her, understandably. The only one-on-one interaction she had with Kondo Isami was a short “interview,” to get a better understanding of Kodo’s character and perhaps a clue where he might be hiding or who might have taken him.

Still, there were those in the Shinsengumi who still treated her coldly, the most prominent being the vice commander, Hijikata Toshizo. The one who had advocated the most for her life to be spared, and the one who wound up with Chizuru being nominated as his “page,” as cover-up, seemed to be the least concerned for the girl whose life he just saved.

And there was Saito, who seemed, for the most part, disconnected and apathetic. Then again, he seemed to be like this for everyone, so Chizuru didn’t exactly feel like she was missing out of anything. It’s not that she didn’t enjoy his company whenever he was assigned guard duty, as he never bothered questioning her, nor did he comment about anything that she did that would be considered unusual.

Okita, however, was another matter, entirely different from Hijikata and Saito. He was wily and perceptive, traits that Chizuru wished to avoid at all costs. He always ended up making some kind of comment, and Chizuru had such a difficult time covering up her reactions. It was almost as if her feelings, her very being, were like a giant game that he picked up whenever he was bored. Even when her mood improved, she still had to watch over her shoulder carefully to make sure Okita wasn’t noticing anything odd.

Like the way she ate. Her condition prevented her from enjoying certain foods, like certain greens, while at the time fueled other aspects of her diet, such as meat. Fish really didn’t cut it, but she had always gone hurting under full moons while her father slept to catch a duck or other wild game in the nearby woods. Now, without that outlet, at least until she got a better idea on how the Shinsengumi ran things, she would have to settle for fish.

The small tray of food she got three times a day did not help. She felt like she was being starved, yet she had to convince herself to pull through. Her father was worth it. Finding him was top priority, not just because she wished to return to her mundane life, not just because she wanted to know if her father was safe or not, but because she owned him everything.

Still, thinking of her father made her wonder when she’ll be allowed to search for him. She had been stuck in this place for over a week, and there was no sign of progress or even rumors of his appearance in the city. Surely he couldn’t have just disappeared?

Standing up, Chizuru moved towards her door and opened it. As she suspected, Okita was leaning against the wall, his katana cradled in his lap with his legs crossed in front of him. He glanced over at her when she opened the door, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Ah, the little rabbit decided to poke her head out of the hole now? Need a bathroom break or something?”

His tone, as always, was impish and nonchalant, yet those emerald eyes of his never left her face the moment she came into view. He watched her like how a fox watches a hen, causing The Wolf in her to stir, to glare back with equal intensity, to show him she was the dominant one, that she was not a force to be reckoned with.

Shaking her head, Chizuru broke eye-contact and looked down, fumbling with her hands, trying to find something to distract herself as she worded her question carefully. “Okita-san, I was wondering… when Hijikata-san and Sannan-san return, will I be able to leave the compound?”

“Leave the compound?” Okita laughed, slapping his knee jovially. Glancing back up at her, his face was stretched out into a light, teasing smirk. “Sorry, little lady, but I’m not the guy to ask. But if you behave, maybe I can throw in a word with Kondo-san.”

“Really?” Chizuru couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice at that point. Okita only grinned wider, tilting his head. He opened his mouth, about to speak when another voice interrupted him;

“Souji, it’s time for dinner.”

Sighing, Okita turned to look behind him, Chizuru following suit in looking up, surprised by the appearance of Heisuke, carrying a tray of food. Okita huffed and stood up, leaning his sheathed katana on his shoulder casually. “Well, that’s all well and good, Heisuke, but someone’s gotta keep an eye on the girl.”

“Well…” To this, Heisuke titled his head back a bit, eyes unfocused and looking upwards before focusing back on Chizuru, and then Okita. “Why not let her eat with us? I’m sure it won’t be a big deal, since she’ll be with us anyway.”

“Hmm.” Okita glanced between Chizuru and Heisuke before flashing a grin. “Not a bad idea. Besides, it gets boring watching her eat. She doesn’t talk much.”

 _I’m right here_ , Chizuru thought, sighing softly to herself. Still, she looked up expectantly at Heisuke. He smiled at her widely, chirping, “Hey, then we’re good! Come on, Chizuru-chan!”

Chizuru followed Okita and Heisuke to the large room that, ironically enough, once served as her possible death sentence, now serving as a warm and welcoming place, full of laughter and mirth.

But little did the young girl know that, the moment she set foot inside the room, she had come one step closer to tragedy, one step closer to losing everything she held precious, and one step to closer to having her heart broken. For such was the fate of the unfortunate werewolf, Yukimura Chizuru.


	3. A Pack of Wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer your questions; yes, I am implying it. Yes, I am being very dirty. Yes, werewolves are very fucked up.
> 
> Also, for the werewolf appearance; think Van Helsing, only less vicious looking and with a tail.

  _~*April 1864*~_

* * *

  _So, that’s what happened.”_

_Her father, his back turned, spoke those words softly, bowing his head. Chizuru bit her lower lip, eyes focused on the floor._

_“Yes, sir.” She heard him sigh, rub the back of his bald head before speaking again._

_“I can’t say I’m not surprised. For you to know remember nothing, yet you know just what you are.” Nodding to himself, he continued, chuckling, “Although, you didn’t have a name for yourself, nor what you are, you managed so well.”_

_She nodded. Of course it was surprising, all things considered. She had no memory of her past, her earliest childhood memories wiped clean. She didn’t know her own name, yet she knew what she was, even without having a name to call it. She had also managed to survive five months on her own, wandering as a small child through thick forests and wide groves, all the while avoiding detection. Well, until Kodo accidently, and quite literally, had Chizuru fall into his arms from a tree._

_Kodo began to speak again, breaking her from her thoughts; “Even with that knowledge, you must never share this with anyone else. Understand? Even your fellow oni will not protect you if they know of your condition.”_

_“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”_

_And it was the truth. She had hidden the truth so long from her adoptive father anyway. It was really child’s play to continue to hide the truth._

_“That also means no more nightly runs under a full moon. I know it will be hard at first, but you must stay inside when you transform. Promise me that.”_

_Chizuru’s voice was robotic when she replied, completely lacking in emotion. “I understand.”_

_That seemed to make Kodo happy, as his shoulders relaxed. He finally turned his head to look her directly in the eye. “Then, in return, I promise to find a cure for your condition. Until then, please be patient with me.”_

* * *

Nightmares can take various forms, like shadows cast on walls. They can be ghoulish and hellish, terrifying the faint of heart with imaginary beasts and demonic threats. Yet those are never the most frightening, the most gut wrenching of nightmares.

No, it was often the nightmares that took on the forms of loved ones, of empty promises, of the real world and the horrors it held. Nightmares are truly terrifying when they make promises, show things that never happened, or even show the victim things that have already happened, forcing the victim to relive that moment again and again.

The event doesn’t even have to terrifying; the promises don’t have to horrible. It can be the dream of loved ones, alive and well. It can be the lover reaching out to intimately touching the dreamer. It can even be words once spoken in the past, harmless or even passionate.

It was these dreams that tortured the soul the most, because when the dreamer wakes, their fantasies are shattered, and the physical world invades their reality, reminding them of all the have not’s or not meant to be.

Such was the dream experienced by Chizuru. A call to the past, torturing her with the reminder of what her father did, of the implications of what she couldn’t do, the guilt over not acting swiftly enough, not fighting hard enough. She would even say that expressing the typical moon-fueled nightmare was better than this, as she had grown accustomed to dreaming of her attacking innocents, eating live babies and tearing her own father apart. These were, after all, only dreams, and dreams they would remain as long as she kept control. These dreams served as a solemn warning of what could become of her if she didn’t remain in control, after all.

Yet this particular dream she was having was nothing more of a taunt. She could not control these circumstances, yet she felt regret for not attempting to. Her father was such a kind person. Why would such a terrible thing, such as a fire to his clinic, happen to him?

“Chizuru-chan.”

A voice in the distance..? No, more like outside her dream. She hummed softly, cracking one eye open before slamming it shut. White light had burned itself into her eyes, causing spots to appear in her eyelids. She resisted the urge to groan; this might take it a bit.

However, the voice that had beckoned her from her dreams seemed to have other ideas. “Chizuru-chan…” This time, the voice sounded annoyed, as if it was such a tiresome task speaking her name.

In turn, The Wolf snarled in frustration. How dare this lowly human command her? Did this offender not know who he was dealing with? She was Yukimura Chizuru, sole survivor of the powerful eastern oni clan, and a werewolf to boot. One did not simply order her around least he wished to anger The Wolf.

She furrowed her brow and opened her eyes slowly. White light soon faded into colors, these colors eventually merging and shaping a face hovering above her. The face had green eyes and a mouth that was warped into a sneer. Confused, she rubbed her eyes and murmured, “Oki…ta-san?”

The smirk only widened. “Huh, and here I thought you knew that already? Did you hit your head at all last night?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, nor did she react, the corners of his lips twitched downward. “Can you hurry it up a bit? I’m on a tight schedule here.”

Again, The Wolf stirred. It snarled, causing Chizuru to physically frown. She turned under the covers, looking away from the young man leaning down next to her. “Well, if I’m causing you such an inconvenience, then please, don’t wait up on me.”

She didn’t see his facial expression, nor did she know what he was thinking, as only silence came after her. Finally, she heard shifting, then a rhythmic warm puff of air as Okita spoke directly into her ear;

“You don’t seem to understand the situation you’re in. You get free room and board; the least you can do is not be a bother.” He hummed when she visibly stiffened. Her gut literally dropped while her heart hammered against her ribcage.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn her mouth and The Wolf! She might as well pin a sign on her back that read, “Warning: I do not think before I speak,” because of the damn full moon and her damn lycanthropy and her damn loose lips and her damn idiotically slow brain and its inability to catch this idiotic barter from escaping her oral cavity.

She glanced at Okita; he still had on that devilishly sweet smile on his face that promised her hell if she didn’t obey him. Just how did she get herself into this sort of trouble? She had to find a way to cool down the situation or…

Slowly, she got up and, with her eyes focused on the ground, her heart racing, said, “And I appreciate everything you’ve been doing for me. Really. Thank you.” She bowed, her shoulders completely tense.

Okita tilted his head, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. “Really? Then how about showing that appreciation by getting up quicker? I might be a more forgiving soul, but the others….” He let the sentence, his green eyes dark and narrowed, the smile never reaching them.

A chill ran down her spine, and The Wolf growled. Shaking away more comments she’d love to give him, she instead changed subjects, “Was there something you wanted in particular, Okita-san?”

Okita stood up, placing his hands on his hips. “Well, it is your turn on cooking duty. Although, by now, Hajime-kun’s already done, given the amount of time it took to wake you up.” His voice was annoyed, the smile gone from his face and a small frown on his face.

Upon hearing such a revelation, Chizuru lurched up, squeaking, “What?!” Her face was burning red, she began to remove her robe when she heard a, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Okita standing there, his arms now crossed. She merely blinked, her robe’s hem still in both hands, pulled away from her body and the belt already loosened. “Oh, you’re still here?”

That took Okita be surprise, as he _tsk_ ed and turned around, waving his hand dismissively. “Whatever. Just hurry up. Otherwise, you’ll start to outlive your usefulness.” Then he was gone, closing the door behind him.

The Wolf was snorting and growling to itself, upset that such a suggestion be made. This human knew nothing about her, her power nor what she could actually. He merely had a sword; what hope would he have against her claws? When the full moon rises, she should show him her true power, perhaps sink her talon-like nails into his chest and drag down, maiming the muscular frame with torn flesh.

Or, with teeth gleaming white under lunar light, scar him permanently, forever cursed to live as a manbeast as she was, yet he would also face a fate worse than death, becoming her slave whether under night sky or daylight. After all, unlike her, human werewolves were hopelessly stupid creatures, prone to chase tails and bark at shadows.

She smiled sinisterly, her robe thrown off her body, confidence overtaking her as her eyes flashed yellow. Her skin, always itching and crawling on the day of the full moon, now tinkled in pleasure as more graphic images flooded her mind, her body mentally transforming into her monstrous form, the moon now high above her, the room dark and a cowering Okita in the corner, her large shadow consuming him.

Thinking about it, she could practically imagine his wails of pain and pleading for forgiving as she tore into his flesh again and again. She could see the red dying the floor, her claws grasping tender and worn tissue, gaping holes riddling her victim’s chest and arms, exposing bone and muscle. Blood would trickle down from his mouth, his green eyes rolled up, staring glass-eyed out into nowhere, motionless—

Suddenly, she bit her tongue, drawing blood. Forcefully torn from her dark thoughts, she paused in mid-binding, her heart beginning to hammer against her chest. That hallucination felt so real, the scent of copper still lingering in her nose.

Quickly, she bound her breasts and dressed in her male attire, hassling out of the room quickly, only to find the object of her daylight nightmare standing there, still having his arms crossed.

She didn’t look at his face, the hallucination of his face masked in terror and blood flashing still fresh in her mind, and she hastened down the hall towards the kitchen. She needed a distraction, as the small of cooked fish and vegetables slowly began to replace the scent of copper.

* * *

Breakfast wasn’t much to talk about. After helping Saito and Okita finish making breakfast (and seeing Okita being reprimanded for inciting Chizuru could be killed for sleeping in), she was given the task of prepping the room for the rest of the captains. Of course, despite being both a pureblooded oni and a werewolf for over ten years, she still managed to run into Harada, throwing the miso soup off the tray and onto Nagakura. At least neither man was angry with her, which wasn’t simply relief from being scolded.

She still saw flashes of her daydream while cooking next to Okita, The Wolf creating more horrific images, one involving cooking his loins and force feeding them to him after he had made a crude remark over her undressing when he was still in the room with her.

The Wolf was far more agitated, having not been released during the past three months, clawing continuously at the corners of her mind, lurking, waiting for a moment of weakness. When enraged, The Wolf created visions for her, possible scenarios of what could occur should The Wolf’s wrath be further incited.

After setting the room up, she was sent by Sannan and Inoue to retrieve Hijikata and Heisuke respectfully. Of course, both had been rather awkward encounters, although more-so with Hijikata than Heisuke, as the demon vice commander was in the middle of dressing while Heisuke was fast asleep, hugging his pillow lovingly.

She managed to have a good conversation with Kondo, however, while waiting for Hijikata to finish dressing, something she was grateful for, even if she never shared exactly why. It certainly cooled her groan (Hijikata was considered a very handsome man, and he certainly had a good amount of training to build his form), but it also managed to soothe The Wolf.

When breakfast came and went, Hijikata introduced her to the men of the Watch; Shimada Kai and Yamazaki Susumu. Both seemed reliable, yet such a reveal sent a temporary wave of panic. Where these men watching her room? Had they seen her behaving strangely during the full moon? Had they caught her eying that delicious-looking squirrel a couple of days ago?!

She only calmed down when she found out they mainly take missions outside the compound. Harada seemed to have caught on her panic, yet he thankfully mistook it as embarrassment on being watched while changing. Of course, Okita had to bring up that event this morning, which again, Chizuru saw flashes of gore, The Wolf practically roaring for revenge.

When the meeting concluding, the captains and Chizuru were dismissed. Returning to her room, Chizuru finally had time to herself until lunch, to which she will begin to prep herself for the full moon.

* * *

Of course, calamity was certain to befall the misfortunate. Werewolves brought bad luck everywhere they went, even indirect kinds. Such as a cat ransacking the kitchen.

At least, that’s how it was described to Chizuru.

Barely any time had passed before the captains once again invaded her privacy. She no longer had guards monitoring her room 24/7, which she was grateful for, yet she was still not allowed to come and go out of her room as she pleased. In fact, she was still very much aware of the fact that she was an outsider, so this sort of behavior from the captains confused her.

Why in the world would they want to enlist her aid in catching this animal? Were these not the same soldiers who were rumored to be blood-thirsty killers, no different from wolves, or even the werewolf she could easily become?

Yet, as strikingly odd as it might sound, they were practically begging for her aid. She was even given a choice; help Heisuke with distracting the commander, vice commander, and general commander, help Harada and Nagakura make lunch, or help Okita and Saito in catching the cat.

The choice should have been obvious; she should avoid Okita as much as possible, terrified of what could come if she continued to hear his banter. Yet she was also terrified of Hijikata, although in a different sense. Harada and Nagakura were offering the safest scenario, a no-brainer.

So how did she manage to rope herself up with trying to find the cat?

“We should begin our search over here.” Saito led the way, the kitchen long behind them, where Nagakura and Harada were currently being lectured by Inoue. Her excellent hearing caused her to still her Inoue’s yelling, despite having moved past the kitchen long ago. She did not know how Heisuke was faring. She had heard Heisuke managed to rope in another poor soul, the 4th unit captain, Matsubara Chuji, but having only encountered him a few times (as he had been given night to dawn shifts watching her), she had no real opinion of the man.

Shaking away the thoughts, Chizuru went to focus on the task at hand. She had an inkling as to why she choose this job; the hunter was hungry. Not necessarily hungry for meat, but hungry for a chase. Pursuing a nimble cat sounded like a perfect challenge to give her Wolf, something to truly distract herself from the goreish hell she kept imagining. It seemed even Saito wasn’t immune to The Wolf’s rage, having made a comment that, while not condescending nor witty, managed to wound The Wolf’s pride considerably.

Pausing in her search, she glanced around. Saito was off to the left, bend on one knee, hands ruffling through the bushes. Okita was off more on the right, checking near the small pond. Neither of them were truly paying her any mind, which was exactly what she needed if she was going to help them as best she could.

Titling her head skyward, her mouth slightly open, she breathed in the air. Various scents filled her nose; sweat, blood, cooked food, body odor, and human and animal waste. However, there was a certain scent she was hoping to find. Digging through the mountain of odors in the air, she got a whiff of a nervous squirrel hiding in the tree obvious Okita’s head, the field mice hiding under the floorboards behind her, and—

THERE!

Her feet no longer under her control, she began to relinquish control to The Wolf, her inner beast eagerly meeting the challenge. Her senses narrowed, focusing only on that one scent, following it away from the compound to the Yagi’s house.

She couldn’t even hear Okita and Saito’s commands to stop, her will all but dominated by the Hunt and The Wolf’s need to pursue. She ducked and dived as if she were the cat, ghosting its movements until she came upon a wall. She merely paused, brown eyes brightening to gold, her nostrils flared. She sniffed before jerking her head up, as if a string had yanked her skyward.

Not even considering the wall a formidable foe, she scaled it barehanded, her hands and feet blurs. She was on the roof before Okita and Saito turned the corner to catch up to her. Hunching down, she stalked slowly, her eyes narrowing as the cat came into view.

There the fool lay, sunbathing, having no idea the danger that was near. The Wolf growled low, crunching on all fours while carefully moving, not making a single noise. The cat realized too late it was now the hunted, but by the time it did, The Wolf was already upon it.

Snatching the cat up with both hands, The Wolf was ready to release a howl of victory when a single voice broke through the tunnel vision, shattered the possession.

“You caught the cat!”

Looking down towards the voice, Chizuru blinked, brown eyes wide in surprise at the sight of both Okita and Saito looking up at her, equally shocked to see her, although for perhaps different reasons.

Suddenly, she remembered what she was doing. A small, timid mew caused her to look at her hands, where she held the cat, its ears flattened against its head, tail coiled up and legs hugging slowly to its little body. The animal looked so terrified; it broke Chizuru’s heart.

Looking back at the guards, she called in return, “I’ll be down in a bit.” Gingerly, she cradled the cat to her chest, murmuring, “I’m sorry,” to the small furry animal before sliding down and off the roof. She managed to land, albeit clumsily, nearly using her footing and taking a face plate before straightening up.

Both men were looking at her oddly, as if she had grown a second head. Then, finally, Saito spoke.

“Was that why you ran off like that? To purse this cat?”

Looking at the animal cradled in her arms, Chizuru shrugged, a lie around forming on her lips. “I saw it running this way, so I chased it.” She bowed, careful to not let the cat escape as it was now squirming in her arms. “I apologize for an inconvenience I caused.”

“We’ll overlook this for now,” Saito replied, with Okita adding, “But don’t think we’ll let it slide again. Remember, you may be a guest, but you’re kinda on borrowed time here. Right?”

A bloody, headless Okita flashed in her eyes. She shook her head, loudly proclaiming, “I understand!” She then held out the cat to Saito. He took her it from her, nodding before departing. Okita merely smirked down at her before roughly taking her hand, reminding her of that night, three months ago.

* * *

The moon was her enemy, yet, it was also her only friend.

Chizuru had always possessed mixed feelings toward the celestial body that hung in the sky. To many normal humans, the moon offered guidance, light in the darkness, and was a beauty to behold. She had no idea what other oni thought of the moon, as she only had her adoptive father, and his opinion of the moon was warped like hers.

As the sun began to set, the moon slowly began to rise. Her bones sung of the coming Change, her muscles tensing, and any semblance of exhaustion left her body, lighting her body aflame with power and anxiety. Her body was lain bare, standing upright in a relaxed posture, or as relaxed as she could get.

Only when the sun finally disappear into the horizon did the Change begin. Moonlight bathed her body through rice paper doors, the windows closed for privacy. Upon contact, her bones began to snap, her skin stretching, tearing, and regenerating over and over. She bit her tongue to stop the scream ready to escape her lips, knowing fully well it would not last.

Her eyes burned gold, her hair began white as snow, her ears became pointed, and a pair of small horns jotted out of her forehead. She lurched forward, her hips pushed down, torso expanding and thickening. Her nails were now claws, and she began to scratch at her chest and bosom, wanting to rip her skin clean off to ease the pain, stop the burning sensation all over her body.

The pain now took much to bear silently, Chizuru began to work her plan into action. It wasn’t really a plan, however, more of a trick she learned while living in Edo in a suburban neighborhood. Sometimes Chizuru had to prevent her transformation due to patients resting in the clinic, which meant she had to go a month without transforming at times. The Change was always more painful when missing a full moon, and she found she made many noises while Changing.

It was then, by a casual comment made her father, did she come up with a solution, a disguise to hide her wolfish Changes every full moon.

The groan of pain building up, she let it out slowly, breathing as she did so, altering the, “Argh!” to a more seductive, “Aaahhhhhhhh…” Keeping her moans light and airy, her arms began to elongate along with her legs. Falling to her knees, she let out an especially long, breathy moan, ending it a sigh as her back snapped loudly in her ears. Her hands and feet expanded and stretched forward, and her tail began to emerge from behind.

White fur was now covering her body, breaking through the skin all the while new skin healed over the scratches and claw marks. As she moaned and groaned loudly, the large scar on her shoulder, the stigma that proved she was marked by a werewolf, disappeared under the thickening layer of fur.

Her mouth and cheeks distorting into a muzzle, she clamped down on her arm, fangs digging heavily into tender skin. Her voice, muffled and now crying in pain, soon warped into the low rumble of a beast. Claws dug into the tatami mat as her spine continued to bend and twist, her ribcage expanding and muscles swelling.

Finally, a wave of nothing. Coming like a cool breeze on a hot summer day, it washed over her, the pain gone, the sore muscles disappearing as The Wolf began to emerge. Releasing her arm, she looked down at the well-developed bicep, white fur red with blood. A long flat tongue lapped out of her mouth, licking the tender marks carefully, cleaning the arm completely.

Raising her lupine head, pupils dilated into narrow slits, she crouched on all fours towards the door, her long ears twitching, listening.

There was talk outside, somewhere to her left. Tilting her head, she caught the murmurs of men, not quite catching the words. Still, they were far enough away, therefore, it did not matter. Rumbling in satisfaction, she dragged a thick finger towards the door, nudging it open.

As she predicted, no one was around. No one expected Chizuru to run away now, and, for once, they were correct. Chizuru had no need to depart, just yet. She had some uses for these ‘wolves’ of Mibu, although, she snorted to herself, there were far from the wolves she was familiar with.

Slowly creeping out of her prison and closing the door, she kept her steps light and nimble, her tail flickering out behind it. Ears twitching again, she sniffed the air carefully before, in a single bound, leapt onto the roof. Landing like a cat, she raised on two legs, the wind gently stroking her body.

Here, alone with only the moon as her company, she was free. Free from the world of man, free from the danger of being killed, absolutely free from the pack of wolves that now controlled every aspect of her life.

Lifting her head, she let out a soft howl, a song of promise and hope, calling out to her father. “I will find you, and I will bring you home,” was her vow locked in the cryptic song of The Wolf.

* * *

The howl carried out through the compound and beyond, yet only few actually took notice of it. The captains on patrol would pause, shrug off the cry as nothing special before continuing their rounds. Men sleeping would be momentarily aroused from sleep before returning back to their dreams.

A cat tilted its head and mewed, tail twitching before darting down the street for fresh mice to kill.

Yet another individual truly took notice of the sound, walking down a crowded street moving away from Shimabara. His two companions chatted ahead of him, or rather, one of them chatted while the other only spoke a few words here and there when they were necessary.

Stopping dead in his tracks, he narrowed his ruby eyes and glanced around. No one really took notice of the howl, either being too drunk or too oblivious. Huffing in annoyance, he looked back at the two in front of them, noticing that they had both stopped talking and were listening just as he was.

“A wolf in these parts?” the more chattery companion mused, brushing a blue strand of hair out of his red eyes. The more silent companion nodded, stroking his red goatee in thought. “It seems to be coming from the Mibu district.”

“Hrm.” Smirking, the first man shook his blond hair, shoulders shaking lightly in laughter. “How amusing. A wolf’s cry from Mibu? Perhaps the Shinsengumi really are wolves.”

“Ha! Nice one, Kazama,” chirped the blue haired man. “Although, I bet I could come up with a better one than that. Like, they must be “howling” mad over not arresting anyone tonight.”

Kazama, the blond haired man, narrowed his eyes at the blue haired man. “Shiranui. Shut up.”

“Oi, Amagiri!” Shiranui laughed, slapping the more silent companion heartily. “Kazama told me to shut up! You’d think he’d learn about now.”

“Indeed.” Amagiri shook his head. “Either way, it is nothing more of an animal’s cry. I suggest we all return to our assigned duties. There’s still the missing Western doctor Satsuma is interesting in collecting.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Shiranui shrugged. “Anyway, I’ll be seeing you guys later.” He waved before retreating into the crowd, disappearing completely from sight.

Kazama sighed in annoyance before looking up at the bright moon above his head.

“It is a beautiful night out, isn’t it?”

Tsking, Kazama grumbled, “Do not lecture me about finding a wife, Amagiri. I’ve heard enough of that for today.”

“I did not mean that,” Amagiri replied, holding up a hand. “Even if that is still a subject of interest I intend to continue discussing with you, I was simply making a remark to start conversation.”

“Trying to probe my thoughts again, aren’t you?” Kazama chuckled, beginning to walk away.

“You’re curious about the wolf, aren’t you?”

Kazama didn’t stop, nor did he slow his pace. When he didn’t answer immediately, Amagiri quickened his pace a bit to catch up, now walking beside Kazama. “You do realize that it could simply be a hound? There is a very small probability of an actual wolf making its way into Kyoto.”

“But a probability none the less.” Kazama shrugged. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. If a wolf did manage to sneak within Kyoto’s borders, we will hear about it.”

“So you’ll just wait and observe?”

Noting the hint of relief in his companion’s normally stoic tone, Kazama gave a sneer in return. While the idea of an actual wolf managing to sneak into Kyoto did not interest him, it was the thought of something else being behind the wolf’s appearance. He was curious no doubt, but he wanted to wait and see if this was something worth pursuing. After all, he had gotten enough lecturing from Amagiri and his mother about his inquisitive nature, not to mention he had a job to do and really couldn’t afford wild goose chases.

No, while the Shinsengumi intrigued him slightly, and he found it mildly ironic that a wolf’s cry would be coming from the Mibu district, he did not see any reason to act.

Yet.


	4. Belonging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, everyone! Enjoy this chapter, and please don't mind the dates or errors. I have yet to beta both chapter 3 and 4, so please be patient.

_~*May 1864*~_

* * *

Chizuru should be used to feeling like an outsider by now. After all, she was an outsider for most of her life. An oni didn't belong with humans, yet a werewolf didn't belong with oni either. She had always been alone, ever since that terrible day, where her entire family was slaughtered.

In fact, a lot of what had happened to her could be traced back to that terrible day. If what her father had guessed was true, had the massacre not happened, Chizuru would have never fled the village, never ran into the gapping mouth of a monster. And yet…

She couldn't hate her mentor.

Thinking back, Chizuru found she couldn't remember much of what her mentor had looked like. He had been thin, she remembered, disheveled in appearance with dirt covering his entire body. She couldn't remember the sound of his voice, nor his hair or eye color. She didn't remember details, yet she remembered everything he had taught her.

_"An alpha must always protect his omega."_

His omega… That's what she had been. When he had bitten her in his werewolf form, he had created the alpha bond, a special werewolf link that tied the biter to the bitten. Perhaps it was the universe's way of apologizing for the werewolf's curse, or perhaps it was another sick joke someone was pulling. Either way, the alpha bond had, for Chizuru, been her saving grace. She would have died alone, unprotected, lost to her instincts and confusion, without her mentor's guiding hand.

When he had died, however, she had learned something else about the alpha bond. It would break at the moment of death, freeing the omega from the alpha's servitude forever. But that broken link would break something inside the werewolf. Until the omega finds a new alpha, they become a rogue, a lone wolf, plagued with feelings of isolation. And should a werewolf form a new alpha bond, according to what her mentor had taught her before he died, the bond will be stronger, psychic even. Which meant, if that bond would break… the werewolf's heart would break, too.

Of course, this entire business over the alpha bond made sense, in retrospective. Chizuru had lost her alpha, and, in turn, she was a rogue werewolf. Loneliness never truly left her heart, even when she tried to consider her adoptive father as her new alpha. It wasn't the same, though. A werewolf couldn't imprint on a human; it simply didn't work like that. Try as she might to ignore the cold, she could only find true relief in front of a burning fire.

"Oi, Chizuru, what are you doing outside your room?"

Chizuru recognized that voice instantly. It was youthful and light-pitched, belonging to none other than Heisuke. However, rather than sounding cheerful and energetic like he usually sounded like, his tone was sharp, demanding, the tone used by a captain issuing orders.

Or an alpha commanding his omega.

Shaking her head, Chizuru straightened from her kneeing position on the floor, holding the wet rag up for him to see. "Inoue-san gave me permission to clean."

He blinked, gapping at her. "You're cleaning?"

Chizuru shrugged passively. "Since I'm staying here, I hoped I could be less of a burden and do some things around the place. Besides, today has such nice weather…"

She actually meant that statement, despite how generic it sounded. A werewolf needed open air, and with her being cooped up in her room a majority of the time, her only time to leave her room of her own will was under the full moon. And that had been half a month ago. She still had two weeks to wait for the next moon, yet she felt like she was becoming claustrophobic. The Wolf hated enclosure, so when she was allowed by Inoue to clean, she had worked hard on making him feel safe with her being outside her room alone for an extended period of time.

Hopefully, with this, she could begin negotiating with the captains on letting her help look for her father. She knew her father's scent well. If she was just given a day, she could track him down by scent alone.

It seemed Heisuke suspected something. He had been watching her the entire time, his teal eyes sharp and observant. Despite the first vibe he had given her, he was indeed worthy of the title, "Captain." Frowning, Heisuke placed one hand on his hip. "You're definitely on the weird side. You couldn't convince me to clean even if you paid me." Shaking his head, he shrugged. "Either way, you shouldn't do stuff like this if all you want is for us to treat you better and trust you. It's pointless to try. You'd be better off if you stayed in your room and kept quiet."

The words broke the tiny shred of hope she just began to work together. The Wolf, in turn, snarled, clawing from deep within her mind. Although her mental defenses were stronger than half a month ago, where she began to hallucinate horrible things happening to the captains, especially Okita, she couldn't help but desire the taste of blood at that moment.

Still, though, she couldn't allow those words to break her spirit. She knew when she entered this compound that no one was on her side, no matter how nice they were. They made it clear they would kill her at the drop of a hat.

And she was prepared to kill them in turn. The Wolf hungered for their blood, and it hungered for freedom. The Wolf would not be denied either of those things, not now, not ever.

Straightening her shoulders a bit, she met Heisuke's gaze sternly. "And I know that. That's not the reason why." In truth, it wasn't just in hopes of getting the captains to trust her to help look for her father.

When Heisuke quirked an eyebrow up, she continued, "The reason I wanted something to do was because I'm stuck here. I can't look for my father. With each day, I worry more and more about him. That's why I want to leave this place as soon as I can…" She bowed her head, murmuring softly, "I want to find him."

Silence followed shortly afterward. Chizuru was rather impressed with her ability to keep her cool and not let The Wolf come roaring out. What really surprised her, though, was Heisuke's reaction.

"Uh… um." He trailed off, looking everywhere but her, dancing a little on his feet. She noticed a bottle of sake in his other hand, and that's when Heisuke held it up towards her. "T-then here! You can have my sake! You know what they say; sake washes the worries away!"

Chizuru blinked before shaking her head. "Thank you for the thought, Heisuke-kun, but I can't drink sake."

"Huh?" Heisuke really looked confused at this point. Chizuru felt a little bad in refusing the offer, but there was more than just modesty preventing her from accepting his gift. Even if he had offered her a drink at night, she would still refuse, as werewolves and alcohol just never mixed well. If you were lucky enough to drink a shot and not vomit, you'll certainly suffer motion sickness and other unpleasant symptoms.

She smiled at him, trying to be reassuring. "It's not much of a choice, really. I get sick really easy." That explanation seemed to sink in better, with Heisuke looking away with a blush on his cheeks. "I-I see. Sorry to hear that…"

"It's fine." She frowned a bit, her brow furrowing. "But, Heisuke-kun, may I ask why you're carrying a bottle of sake around? It's only afternoon—"

It was then their conversation was interrupted by Sannan, who informed Heisuke Hijikata wanted to see him. The young captain left reluctantly, looking like he wanted to stay a little longer, but Chizuru reassured since Sannan was there, she would fine. When he left, she asked Sannan what Hijikata wanted with Heisuke, only to be shocked to find out Heisuke was in trouble.

Sannan left shortly thereafter, but not without stating his suspicions on why Heisuke bothered to check on Chizuru. While the words were meant to make her feel better, it only made her feel miserably, remembering how, not too long ago, she had imagined burying Heisuke's decapitated head, back when she was suffering from werewolf induced visions.

* * *

Heisuke hated being under house arrest. Although he got that people who broke the rules needed to punished, he honestly thought Hijikata was taking it too far. And what made this even worse were Shinpachi and Sano were most likely getting out of this scot-free.

His stomach grumbled at him, reminding him he didn't have any food. This only enraged him more because he always got grumpier without food. _Stupid Shinpattsuan is probably stuffing his face now_ , he thought, glaring at the ceiling. He's probably laughing about me being under house arrest again. Heartless bastard.

His only hope was that Sano felt enough pity for the young captain and brought a small fruit. It would be better than nothing. Even a rice ball sounded absolutely delicious right about now—

"Heisuke-kun?"

Heisuke blinked. Was he hearing things? He jerked upright, seeing the small silhouette. "Chizuru?"

"Yes." The shadow nodded. "It's me."

Heisuke gawked. "The hell?! What are you doin' here? You're supposed to be in your room—" He stopped when he saw the silhouette jerk its head. "There're footsteps!"

"Shit! Get inside!" He didn't even wait for her to open the door, as he slide it open immediately. He grabbed Chizuru's arm and jerked her inside before slamming the door shut. Throwing a blanket over her, he placed a finger on his lips and snapped, "Stay still and shut up!"

It was only moments as the individual passed by, yet it seemed like an hour for the two. Chizuru thankfully didn't move a muscle, which he was grateful for. He waited until the footsteps faded before finally pulling the blanket back. "You're insane to come here!" he snapped, keeping his voice low. "You not only left your room, but you came to the guy under house arrest! Do you want to get into trouble?!"

Her eyes fluttered, a strange look on her face. When she turned to look at him, he could have sworn that her eyes were a liquid gold, and yet, when he blinked, the gold has vanished, returning back to her honey brown color.

Maybe Heisuke was hungrier than he thought; he was seeing things now.

Either, he made sure to give Chizuru a good lecture, a lecture so good that even Hijikata would be proud. But he doubted he did a good job, as Chizuru easily brushes off the implications, stating she was returning the favor. She apparently worried about him, which would have touched Heisuke if this girl wasn't supposed to be under house arrest like him.

Honestly, he was trying his best to play the bad guy to Chizuru, the acting all mean was beginning to wear him out. He wasn't the only one, as Sano and Shinpachi were uncomfortable being strict jailors around such a young girl. She was probably no older than sixteen! She shouldn't be trapped with these men; she should be having fun with girls her age, getting engaged to a man who would take her out of her father's house and care for her.

There was just so much wrong with forcing her to dress as boy, even. Heisuke had no idea what Chizuru looked like dressed as a girl, but he was pretty damn sure she would be cute as hell. She had these beautiful eyes, eyes Heisuke couldn't stop staring into. Maybe he wasn't the more perspective of the group, but he knew there was something beyond those eyes, as if there was some kind of hidden treasure behind the curtains.

This should be some kind of red flag, as Heisuke knew there were secrets in the Shinsengumi that Chizuru must never know, despite who her father was, yet he didn't think this secret had anything to do with the Shinsengumi. The one time he had accidently let it slip over what their "project" was, the big secret that must be kept from Chizuru at all cost, he had seen her eyes and saw absolute confusion in them.

Perhaps that's what he liked the most about her eyes. When genuine emotion passed through, they seemed to light up. It was rare to see that light, like right now, when Chizuru presented him with a rice ball. He was so taken aback that he could only stare at her. When she insisted, he finally reached out and took it.

It was delicious. He ended up sort of forgetting what he was worrying about in seconds, happily relieving his growling stomach with the warm, soft rice ball that Chizuru made especially for him. Maybe that's what made it so good. It was made for him, and only him. Now it nearly impossible for him to try to distrust her, even if it was his job.

Then again, Heisuke wasn't the type of guy to disregard his beliefs for the sake of the job. That was something Heisuke wanted to hold onto in these difficult times, a sense of right and wrong, boundaries and standards that will not bend.

* * *

The next full moon came and went with little activity. Chizuru again used her strategy of pretending to have an orgasm while transforming, before sneaking out of her room and sitting on the roof, looking out over the compound.

At this point, it might be strange to not leave, to just take off and find her father herself. These humans clearly didn't have her talents, so why should she wait on hands and knees for them if they couldn't get the job done.

And yet, she had this gut feeling to not leave. She had no fear of death when fully transformed. The Change not only caused metamorphosis in body, but also in mind. She was proud of what she was then, white glossy fur covering a strong, stable body, horns displayed to the world, eyes shining majestically, a hidden challenge buried deep within.

Her non-Wolf side, however, was much weaker in personality. She worried about her identity, she worried about her father, and she worried about jumping too far, too quickly, without some inkling of what was going on. While emotional by nature, Chizuru was also forced to mature rather quickly as a child, with a level of caution reaching paranoia. The idea of being discovered was far too terrifying to bear, and even when The Wolf desired to run and hunt, Chizuru held fast, allowing her body to weaken and break down from lack of nutrition and mental degradation for the sake of protecting herself and her father.

No matter what, her secret must not be discovered. For now, she will wait and watch. Her wolf body was the only thing that could possibly find her father, yet it would mean nothing if she were caught and killed.

Or she lost control and slaughtered them all.

* * *

Sano fancied himself a normal guy, with all due respect. He was a man, skilled in sōjutsu, and had once attempted to commit seppuku. Although he often bragged about the scar when drunk, he didn't like to flash it around when sober. He had his reasons for not doing so, not that it mattered. Every man had things he liked to keep to himself; every man had some unusual aspects to their selves, such as Sano's height.

Yes, a perfectly normal and average person was just the way to describe Sano. He didn't really like to stand out in a crowd. He preferred drinking with friends and goofing around than doing rounds. He liked calm days, where everything was fairly predictable, or at least easy enough to get under control. He was by no means a control freak (that was more Hijikata's thing, anyway). He just preferred things to be simple.

That was him, a simple guy. A perfectly normal, average, and simple guy.

So, being such a typical dude, you would think "sex" would be one of those things he'd be completely comfortable with. And he was. He also fine with masturbating, as men had their needs, and those needs needed to be taken are, with or without help. Sano preferred without help, as money was on the short side, and his own chivalry played against him in seeking the pleasure quarters for the more physical intimacies.

Maybe it was his chivalry getting his way this time as well. After all, he had just established he was normal, so why was there so much shame in the act he had performed?

Sex was a normal part of life. So was fantasy. If he was aroused, it would be best if he just got it over and done with if he can help it, rather than walking around with a boner. And listening to the only female in the entire compound moaning and groaning in pleasure was just too much for his dick to take.

This whole complication began in April, where, one night, out of the blue, he could have sworn he heard moans of sex. While there were no women, besides their charge, in the compound, the captains were all aware that a few of their subordinates engaged in intercourse in their rooms, often in the dead of night, such as that night in April.

Sano was going to dismiss it, only to find out, seconds later after an especially loud moan, that the voice was most definitely female.

Alarms went off in his head. Women were not allowed on the compound; surely none of the soldiers were stupid enough to bring their wives or prostitutes to HQ?

It was only when he paused long enough to listen that he found he recognized the noise. He was terrified to make such a conclusion, and the first few seconds he spent trying to reason himself away from the conclusion. Surely it couldn't be..?

But it was, the more he listened. It was definitely Chizuru making those noises. Sano's face turned bright red at the thought. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his life; not only was he willingly listening to a woman relieving herself, but it was their own young charge making those noises.

His mind did backflips, trying to clear the fog of heat rising, ironically rising along with his cock. His brain was in jumbles; he couldn't see straight. All thoughts were focusing on how much his dick ached and how hot Chizuru sounded.

By now, she had stopped making the noises. No more sounds came from her room, but that didn't help Sano's situation. He could practically see Chizuru at that moment of ecstasy, her naked body gleaming with sweat, her lips plump and red from kissing, eyes hooded and glazed over. Such a sight heightened his need further, as his mind played with his senses, imagining him on top of her, plating gentle kisses all over her neck.

Where were these thoughts coming from?! He only knew Chizuru for a few months, and, while yes, he did find her cute, and he hated treated her like a prisoner, but he had a duty to the Shinsengumi. He was willing to kill her if ordered to. There were no ifs or ands about it.

Yet try telling that to his hard rod. It was practically begging him to relieve himself. When was the last time he had an honest hard-on, anyway? A month? Three months? He didn't remember, nor, as his mental walls shattered, did he care. He was taking care of it now.

He got up from his mat and carefully navigated over his sleeping companions. Sano was honestly amazed that neither Shinpachi nor Heisuke heard Chizuru's moans. Then again, they were sound sleepers, and they had both a lot to drink prior to crashing.

Leaving the room, Sano made his way to the Yagi bathhouse. It was spacious and empty when he arrived. Perfect for his needs.

Taking a bamboo screen and a towel, he made his way into a corner. He set the screen up to hide his presence from any possible intruders. He doubted anyone was willing to bathe at this hour, but it was better to be on the safe side, especially when the Yagi family had a young child who liked to wander.

Loosening the belt of his night robes, he caught sight of his now rock-solid dick, glaring up at him, reminding him what he had to do to make it go away. Sighing, he leaned his head against the cold wall. He took another breath before grasping his length and began to stroke up and down.

He braced a hand on the wall as his hand moved in sync with his hips, thrusts soon growing erratic as he drew closer. His mind picked up where it left off, him on top of Chizuru, ramming himself shaft deep within her slick folds as he managed to tear a beautiful yet erotic moan from her seemingly virgin lips.

Finally, he released, sighing into the cold air, his posture relaxing gradually. He took the towel and cleaned the mess before cleaning himself off and redressing. He placed the screen back in its proper place and then washed the cloth off. Throwing the towel into the large basket of used towels on his way back, he paused in front of Chizuru's room, just for a moment, before continuing on his way.

He hadn't said of word of what he did to either of his friends the following morning. Nor did he have any intention of telling them. He found himself, however, watching Chizuru a lot the following day. Like him, she was tired, and she oddly remained like that for a good week before she perked back up.

Perhaps women had needs just like men had? He wouldn't know, as he wasn't a woman, nor did he ever ask another woman. When he thought about it, it made a lot of sense. Here she was, cooped up and isolated from most human contact outside of the captains, who all pretty much made it clear that she wasn't someone they wanted to have around. It would only make sense that she would need relief; besides, none of the captains really knew her.

Heisuke's demeanor seemed to change in May. He seemed to be friendlier than before around Chizuru, almost as if he was making an extra effort to make Chizuru feel comfortable. This only made Sano feel guilty towards his treatment of Chizuru. After all, it's not like she asked for this. She really didn't do anything wrong. She just happened to be unlucky, that's all.

That feeling of guilt, however, changed into disgust when, just like April, Sano heard the moans and groans of intimacy. And, just like in April, Sano left his room silently to handle business.

When June began to roll in, Sano once experienced a need for release due to prompting by Chizuru's love noises. And that following morning, angry at himself and his behavior, he vowed to make it up to Chizuru.

Somehow.

* * *

_ ~*June 1864*~ _

* * *

He made it up to her by taking her out of her room.

Yeah, it wasn't much, all things considered. After all, she wasn't just unlucky; she was alone. She was a child in a strange place, with strange people and no allies in sight. Her mood fulgurated along with the moon. She seemed tense and anxious one day, moody and distant the next. Then she just bounced back. The world of womanhood was truly a terrifying enough. He was glad he didn't have to experience such mood swings. He had enough problems with his own body as is.

Tonight he took her out. He guided her out of her room, all the while warning her of the consequences of fleeing. She didn't flee; even worse, she thanked him for being considerate. Sano just wanted to bash his skull into the nearest rock or tree.

How could she be so grateful, especially after what they did to her? They took away her freedom! They didn't deserve any praise.

Yet Chizuru's smiling face caused something to stir in Sano. Just like that, Sano began to wonder what else about this girl he could learn about.

* * *

Souji would be a fool to say he didn't think the girl was interesting. She looked so unassuming, with wide, brown eyes and a rather average complexion. Not that it was bad thing. He might not pursue women like Shinpachi did, but he did have preferences like any other man.

That being said, there were… other things that intrigued Souji, to say the least. One was that, no matter how cruel he acted around her, she would still treat him respectfully, well, most of the time. There were moments where she had these little outbursts, but then again, Souji remembered his own sister having those. Such came with being a woman, he supposed. Still, it was entertaining to put her back in her place when she slipped up. Souji loved watching Chizuru squirm and try to talk her way out of the tight places he often put her in. Often times, she required others to get her out.

Maybe that was why Chizuru avoided Souji for the most part. He wasn't stupid, after all. He noticed her eagerness to get away from him. She apparently wanted nothing to do with him, which he couldn't necessarily fault her with. After all, according to Hajime, Souji was rather relentless in teasing the poor girl. Souji toyed with the idea of easing up for a moment, but then he was reminded of why he liked to tease her so much. Her facial expressions were so honest and genuine. She often didn't offer a rebuttal towards him, nor did she passive aggressively talk to him. No matter the circumstances, she treated him like everyone else she interacted with; politely.

And then there were Chizuru's overall behavior. Some days she seemed like she was hiding something, something she didn't want anyone else to know. She had this air of reservation sometimes, a wall of protection against outsiders.

But Souji understood. He understood far too well. He knew what it was like, being placed in a strange place with strange people. He knew what it was like to be left out, all alone, just waiting for something familiar to come and rescue them. How many nights did he wait for his own sister to come and take him home, back where everything was familiar, and there was no bullying, no harassment, no isolation.

Maybe, like Souji, Chizuru was unlucky. She had the misfortune of seeing something she couldn't unsee. She had lost her father, perhaps forever. She was truly all alone now… and no one was coming to save her.

Thinking about it like that, Souji suddenly felt bad for mistreating Chizuru the past few months. It really wasn't her fault. She didn't ask for any of this. She was like an animal, backed into a corner, with nowhere to run. She had only two options, and she was just too kind and gentle to fight. She needed protection, someone to hold onto in the days to come.

He could be that person to her. He could emulate Kondo and be that person who holds her and guides her, like Kondo had done for Souji all those years ago. He could stop being the sword; he could instead become the shield. And yet, the more he thought about it, the more he wondered. Was there more to this girl than he had originally given credit for? Was that why Heisuke and Sano seemed to act friendly towards her, despite their explicit orders to distance themselves from her?

* * *

_~*July 5, 1864*~_

* * *

That morning, Hijikata called Heisuke and Souji into the commons room. Chizuru was there, too. Souji resisted the urge to smirk.

However, the games would have to wait. Hijikata was going to allow Chizuru to leave the compounds and join the captains on their rounds. Heisuke looked happy about the news, and Chizuru was practically glowing. Souji smirked. Guess Hijikata took Hajime's word. Thinking back to that little test Hajime gave, Souji had to admit he was somewhat surprised with the girl's reflexes.

It had been a dull day in February, with both Souji and Hajime having nothing better to do. Hajime was practicing his iai with Souji as his spectator until Chizuru peeked over the corner. Souji knew he should have scolded the girl for leaving her room, but he decided to let it slide. Hajime didn't voice any concern either, so Souji saw no reason to oppose. Besides, he wanted to know what the little lady was here for.

Evidently, she was interested in looking for her father. _My, what a bold child_ , he had thought, smirking to himself. Hajime had arched an eyebrow in response to the request.

Souji honestly that Hajime would turn the child down instantly. Instead, Hajime did something that surprised even Souji; he offered to test Chizuru's skill to see if she could take care of herself. Souji wasn't going to bet much on Chizuru accepting the challenge. Yet he was caught completely off guard when Chizuru reasoned against using swords. Why, you may ask?

Because she could kill Hajime.

He had to admit, Souji lost it. He nearly fell over backward laughing. Never in his entire life had he heard those words spoken with such certainty. It was as if Chizuru honestly believed she could kill Hajime with her short sword. Saito Hajime, a swordsman so talented that he kept Souji on his toes. This girl had guts, he had to give her that. Her face was so sincere; it baffled Souji how this girl could honestly believe such a delusion.

Hajime, however, took the comment very seriously, telling her to just use the blunt side of her sword to attack. Souji was still struggling to regain composure when the two faced each other off. Hajime obviously had no need to pull out his katana yet; Chizuru had hers posed, ready to attack.

A heartbeat.

Chizuru latched forward, and, immediately, Souji knew something was wrong. He wondered if Hajime noticed it, too. It wasn't the stance, nor the power of the scream Chizuru made. It wasn't the way she held her sword, nor how high she held it up. No, it was her feet. Or rather, how awkward her footing was.

It was hard to pin, exactly, yet it just appeared to Souji as if Chizuru was hesitating with each step. As if she was slowing herself down. Yet that didn't make any sense. Chizuru's running speed was fine, decent, even. She could easily outrun a ronin if needed.

Yet he couldn't shake off how awkward her footing was to him. It wasn't natural. She was doing it on purpose.

When she reached Hajime, she brought her sword down. Again, Souji noticed something wrong. Narrowing his eyes, he noticed how stiff she had suddenly made her arms. Her swing came down, slower than it should have, lacking in power.

Just in an instance, Hajime pulled out his sword, his hand flying to his hilt and knocking Chizuru's kodachi clear out of her hands. He then brought the blade bearing down to her neck, yet, in the same amount of time it took to pull out Hajime's sword, Chizuru was gone, yanking herself away and back. Her back arched, arms reaching up and out behind her. Her palms hit the grass the moment Hajime stopped, his blade touching nothing but air, a look of complete surprise on his normally stoic face.

Souji was probably mimicking that same look as he continued to watch. He saw Chizuru easily backflip into a crouch, her eyes glowing gold.

Or it appeared so. When Souji double-checked, Chizuru's eyes were normal, her expression reserved and blank. Souji didn't know what he had seen or make him think he saw a change in eye color. Hajime was still staring at Chizuru in shock, and his sword arm, still holding the katana, hung limply by his side.

It took a moment before both captains composed themselves. Hajime busied himself by replacing his katana before walking up to Chizuru to help her stand. Souji went to retrieve her kodachi, all the while his mind buzzing with questions.

How did she move so fast suddenly? Why did she move so awkwardly beforehand? Just who was this daughter of Dr. Yukimura that no one had heard about until now?

Either way, he wasn't going to get answers by just passively standing there. By the time he returned the sword to Chizuru, Hajime had already reached his decision: he would speak to Hijikata the moment he returned to see if Chizuru could join in the rounds. Hajime praised Chizuru's reflexes, remarking that they will come in handy during a fight. However, he said nothing of before, which confused Souji.

When Chizuru ran off, happy as can be, Souji popped the question running in his mind. Hajime replied that it was concerning, yet he also reasoned that perhaps Chizuru had felt flipping the sword over wasn't enough of a precaution and had taken additional measures to ensure no one was harmed.

Souji rolled his eyes. Of course. This girl had no spine, really. She was too terrified to hurt someone; in other words, she'd be a burden during his rounds if his squad managed to get into a fight.

But it really didn't matter. Hajime had given the okay. It was only a matter of time before Hijikata gave his approval. And Souji felt like he was going to rue that day when it comes.

Back in present day, Hijikata told Chizuru to join Souji during his rounds around the city. Souji almost barked a laugh. The look of shock and fear came on her face so quickly he didn't know which came first.

"Just so we're clear," he said, smirking widely, "if we happen to get into trouble along the way, I'm ditching her."

"Souji!" Hijikata snapped. Souji inwardly winced. Ugh, he could be such a mom at times.

Chizuru turned to face Souji then, bowing her head politely as she replied, "I promise I will behave. So I hope you will keep your end of the promise."

Off to his side, Heisuke snickered. Souji would have normally elbowed the guy sharply, but he was too busy watching Chizuru. Her posture was relaxed, her face tranquil. It was as if she didn't hear his threat, or maybe she just didn't care. Souji was starting to wonder if this girl was predictable at all.

Whatever. It made little difference to him. He'd take the girl on his rounds, as ordered. He didn't want to disappoint Kondo, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun on the way.

 _Yes_ , he thought, as he led his men outside the compound, Chizuru following at his heels, _we can spare a little fun here and there._


	5. An Encounter of the Third Kind

The various scents invaded Chizuru’s nose, irritating it badly. She wanted to cover her nose badly, but she knew that she had to keep a look-out (or rather sniff-out) for her father.

This was the first time she was allowed to leave the compound since being captured. She hadn’t bothered to leave even under a full moon, fearing what could happen if she attempted such a fret without probably preparing. The entire reason she had been caught was because she was careless. As a werewolf, she couldn’t be so reckless again.

While keeping her nose pointing windward, she also did her best to remember certain features of the city for her nightly patrol. She still planned on leaving the compound to search for her father at night, but she still needed time to prepare. One way of preparation was getting a good idea of the city during patrols. It wouldn’t due for her to get lost and not return to headquarters on time.

Okita seemed to let her be while on the job, which was good for her. He didn’t bother giving her snide remarks or comments about any strange behavior she was sure she was doing. She knew, however, he was still watching her through the corner of his eyes. Most likely to keep an eye on her like he should, but still, Chizuru found his gaze unsettling.

Attention was bad. She had to keep to herself. She couldn’t draw attention.

* * *

Ironic then, not an hour later, she found herself to be the center of attention. A man swung his sword at her face, the blade hissing through the air as she launched back. Her instincts began to take hold, The Wolf snarling and clawing at the surface. Her hands caught her from behind, and she had begun to tuck her legs underneath when, suddenly, Okita appeared in front of her, slashing the throat of her assailant.

As the corpse fell, Okita glanced at her, frowning, before whirling his body around, slashing out, catching more flesh, scattering blood, as more warriors pulled their weapons out. The other captain patrolling with Okita, Matsubara, rushed towards the back, where the storeowner stood backed up against a wall.

The entire store erupted into chaos as Shinsengumi officers piled in and ronin drew their swords. Chizuru crawled on her hands and knees to the entrance. When she managed to exit the crowded building, behind her, one ronin jerked his sword toward at her.

He made the mistake, in her opinion, of announcing his attack. Had he kept quiet, he would have greatly wounded her. But she heard him, and at the moment, control slipped to The Wolf. Eyes burning amber, canines sharp, The Wolf leapt away before charging into the man, tackling him to the ground. She managed to swipe the sword from his hand and rise it above the ronin’s head.

The blade pointed down, gleaming in the sunlight. Already, The Wolf could smell the copper, see the red liquid pool out of the man’s broken. A savage grin worked its way onto The Wolf’s face. Her first in ages—

“Yukimura!”

Her surname broke her out of her trance. Chizuru blinked, realizing just what she was holding. Gasping, she threw the sword away, horrified as to what she just did.

She was about to kill a man.

She was about to kill an unarmed man.

She was about to murder someone.

“Chizuru-chan,” Okita whispered into her ear.

“Huh?” She jerked around, her face inches away from Okita’s. His green eyes burrowed into her brown eyes, looking at her oddly. Her voice was completely caught up in her throat; she felt like she couldn’t breathe. They stayed like that, him watching her face intensely, his green eyes narrowed, searching for…. Something, she didn’t know what.

Finally, thankfully, Matsubara interrupted the stare-down by announcing he arrested a Choshu spy. Okita reluctantly pulled away, calling his men to round up the remaining ronin and take them into custody.

Chizuru kept close to Matsubara, who didn’t act oddly. She continuously glanced at Okita, who in turn kept peeking a glance at her every so often. Once they imprisoned the men they captured, Matsubara reported to Hijikata while Okita walked Chizuru to her room. He continued his silent observation, not bothering to make a snide remark or even smirk.

Chizuru was terrified. Just what was going on with Okita.

* * *

He KNEW for certain he saw something during the raid. He didn’t say anything while Hijikata worked on interrogating Shuntaro, the Choshu spy, because he needed to confirm for himself before he went blabbering like a fool to Kondo.

The last thing he wanted to do was complicate an already complicated issue. Keeping the girl in headquarters was already risky enough. And he got the feeling that her presence was only going to cause problems.

While waiting for word of what the spy confessed to, Souji decided to stand guard in front of Chizuru’s room. Hajime came by once, asking if he had a particular reason for guarding Chizuru’s room. Souji replied smoothly, making up an excuse he couldn’t remember anymore, guarding his facial expression and tone. Even if he trusted Hajime, he was certain the captain would dismiss Souji’s suspicions as ridiculous.

Honestly, he felt ridiculous for being this cautious. The girl was cute, dammit, not a threat. There was no way she posed any sort of problem to the Shinsengumi’s safety. And yet…

The yellow eyes and wicked smile never left his mind.

* * *

 

_ ~*July 8, 1864*~ _

* * *

 

The entire compound erupted into excitement. Shuntaro ended up confessing to a rather horrid plot of burning Kyoto and kidnapping the Emperor. This sort of threat required immediate action, so the Shinsengumi made the decision to raid one of the inns that would most likely house the traitors, as they would likely regroup and attempt damage control.

Chizuru, happily, was left home, away from the blood and carnage. She was grateful, really, as The Wolf had been hard to wrestle back, what with a recent fight still fresh. However, this peace didn’t last long, as Yamazaki soon returned to headquarters, bearing grim news.

The traitors were housed in the Ikedaya. This was bad, as they had only sent ten men to that inn. The heat had bedridden several men, and with such few at the ready, the Shinsengumi decided to split into two groups to make sure all possible locations were covered. Sure, the commander and five of the captains were there, but it was still risky, considering they had no idea how many Choshu extremists were there. A message needed to be sent to Hijikata and his troops immediately.

Surprisingly, Sannan asked if she would be willing. Of course, Chizuru didn’t know what to say. Should she? He seemed fine with the idea of letting their prisoner out, yet Yamazaki voiced the same concerns as Chizuru was thinking. Still, though, an order was an order. Chizuru was going with Yamazaki.

“Yukimura-kun,” he said as they dashed away from the headquarters. “I cannot guarantee your safety but, if I am in any way unable to deliver the message, you must continue. Understood?”

“Yes!” she declared, eyes focused on the path ahead. Turns out, it was a good thing Yamazaki gave her directions shortly thereafter, as ronin attempted to raid the headquarters with the other members out. With Yamazaki taking care of them, it was up to Chizuru to reach Hijikata’s men in time.

However, it seemed so far away. Time wasn’t on her side; she needed to get there faster.

There was no way she was relying on her Wolf anymore. While there was no full moon out, there was still light coming from the celestial body, still holding power over her body. How close had it come to killing someone? Just how thin of a rope was she walking on? No, she had to use her oni abilities this time. It was harder to be subtle with those abilities, sadly, as her father’s bloodline had been so thinned out that he himself struggled to reach his oni abilities. Chizuru had no teacher, unlike with her werewolf abilities. She was running into this blind, but it was safer, this time.

She reached deep, drawing from her core the gentle fire that, as her father stated, burned in every oni. Stroking it, she beckoned it out, flames gingerly licking every part of her body, spreading from her core to her toes to her head.

Small horns sprouted out from her forehead. Her eyes turned gold, a warm glow unlike her werewolf eyes, and her hair gleamed white. As if wings had grown on her feet, she flew through the street, her feet barely touching the ground. She was a white flash to the human eye, invisible.

But she couldn’t stay like that forever. Eventually, she needed repress her powers, as being an oni was yet another thing she had to keep from her guardians. When she was sure she was close enough, she pulled back, slowing down, color returning to her hair and eyes fading back to brown. Her horns no longer there, she continued to dash, until she saw the light blues of the uniforms.

* * *

The Aizu troops had yet to arrive. The more he thought about it, the more it pissed Toshizo off. But the night only got worse. Their charge, Chizuru, had arrived, gasping out a message from Sannan. Honestly, Toshizo was even more pissed that she was here; a battlefield was no place for a girl. Yet here she was, telling them it was the Ikedaya.

Toshizo swore. Of fucking course. This night was planning out just as he had hoped. Sarcasm noted.

The Shinsengumi rounded up and rushed towards the Ikedaya. Toshizo fumed, his pace nearing a sprint. He wanted to get there as quickly as he could. Kondo and others couldn’t handle the raid by themselves. He should have never let the commander take only ten men. It was idiotic.

But that was Kondo for you. He was painfully optimistic and too trusting. Still, that’s what made following that man such a wonderful thing. He was a man who didn’t let his group down, one to admit to his blunders and be humble with his men. A true leader.

That was why Toshizo had to make it there. He had to protect his commander, the one who saved him from the hopelessness of his birthright.

“Vice commander!” Saito shouted from the left. Toshizo grunted in response, granting him permission to speak. “Yukimura is far ahead of us. Should we worry?”

“I doubt it!” Harada replied, laughing breathlessly. “Got some legs, though. Faster runner I ever saw. Maybe we could put Yukimura to use as a page like we originally planned?”

Toshizo snorted. Among the men, the captains had decided to avoid using gender terms when referring to Chizuru. They also decided to call her by her surname in public, as to help hide the fact that their young charge was female. Of course, just using gender neutral terms and using a surname only got you so far. Chizuru’s behavior was problematic in the sense that she was sometimes too feminine. There was only so much you could excuse as shyness before it crossed the line into femininity. That was why Toshizo hadn’t used Chizuru as a page. Even though it technically was his idea (although it certainly was NOT his idea to have her as HIS page), he had only suggested it as a cover. Something to tell the soldiers as to why there was another young man not working for the Shinsengumi. He didn’t have Serizawa around anymore to blame, although that wasn’t necessarily a compliant.

However, Toshizo did note that both Saito and Harada was correct. Chizuru was far ahead of everyone else, and she kept fading into the distance until she rounded a corner—no, went inside a building.

That’s when Toshizo knew. The battle had begun.

* * *

Human plasma was everywhere. A decapitated head, with its eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling, lay at her feet, blood still oozing from the gaping wound in the severed neck. The headless body wasn’t far away, chest down against the tatami flooring.

A shiver ran down her spine. Chizuru could smell the scent of the fresh kill. The Wolf roared and clawed at its cage, demanding release. Destruction was its name. It must kill. It must hunt.

IT. MUST. EAT.

“Yukimura, what are you doing here?!”

Jerking her head up, she saw Kondo standing there, bloody, red smearing his face and clothes. His normally warm eyes were wide in shock, his mouth agape. She was about to respond when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

“She delivered a message to the vice commander.” Chizuru looked up behind her and saw Saito. Removing his hand from her shoulder, he stepped up to Kondo. “Hijikata-san is standing watch outside. Harada is in the back.”

“Excellent!” Kondo’s eyebrow furrowed, and he stole a quick glance towards the upper level. “Saito-kun, I hate to ask, but could you please check on Souji for—”

A scream erupted from behind Kondo, and he turned, slashing the ronin with his sword. The man fell back, dropping his sword and holding his chest wound, plasma leaking through his hands and onto his clothes. Chizuru covered her mouth as The Wolf roared again.

“Yukimura, please join Hijikata-san outside,” Saito stated, holding his sword out, his blue eyes searching the darkness of the inn. She was about to do what he told her, thinking it best to wait outside when suddenly, in the distance, she heard a distinctive cry and a thud.

She knew that voice.

“Please, let me help!” she said suddenly. The stench of blood was unbearable, but she heard it. Okita was in trouble. A oni had her pride, as her father taught of their culture. An oni must ensure all debts are paid.

Okita had, directly and indirectly, saved her twice today. Once when a ronin attacked her. The other stopping her from killing a man. While nether would have ended with her death, both were close to signing a death sentence. She had secrets to guard, and Okita had given her the cover to guard them. However perceptive he might be, she still owed him a debt.

Saito looked reluctant and was about to respond when Nagakura rushed from the back, blood covering his body like war paint. “Where’s Heisuke? I can’t find him!”

Worry lines were clear on his face; Nagakura was near panicking. Kondo jerked his head upstairs. “He went upstairs with Souji.”

“Shit.” Nagakura wiped his face, smearing more red onto himself. He winced and looked down at his hand, Chizuru noticing a large gash on his hand. It was hard to make out if it was still bleeding, due to how bloody his hand already was, but it was large.

“Nagakura-san, your hand!” She went over to him, reaching out to help. But Nagakura gripped his fist closed, pain flashing on his face. “Ah, it’s nothing. Just a scratch. But Heisuke—”

“Yukimura and I will check.” Saito dashed towards the stairs. “Yukimura, stay close to me!”

“Yessir!” With that, she ran behind him up the stairs, towards danger.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Saito turned left. Chizuru went the other direction, hoping to find either captains unharmed, or, worse possibility, still breathing.

The door she came across was wide open, yet she couldn’t see anyone. Until she stepped into the doorframe, where she saw Okita and his opponent.

* * *

Souji didn’t know how this was possible. He was the best swordsman of Shieiken Hall. He never lost a match, except to Shinpachi or Hajime. Facing against Choshu bastards had always been a walk in the part for him.

So why the hell was he losing?!

His stomach hurt like shit. He was coughing up blood. He was dizzy and sweaty, and he had difficulty breathing. His body was so disoriented that he could no longer stand straight up. His vision blurred in and out of focus, and all the while, his opponent glowered down at him, a smug look on the ronin’s face.

Smug bastard. Souji swore he’d wipe that smirk right off along with his head.

“Okita-san!”

The cry had come so suddenly, Souji nearly lost what little focus he had managed to keep. His opponent, however, wasn’t so tactful, turning his head to look at who had interrupted them.

An opening. Souji jerked his body forward, swinging his sword out towards the man’s neck. However, it was too slow, as the ronin noticed right at the last second and, with inhuman speed, moved away. Souji found himself close to losing his footing again. Dammit, the entire world was spinning!

It was in this moment of disorientation that his opponent once again struck out, again kicking him in the midsection, sending Souji flying back into the wall. He was sure something broke, but he wasn’t sure if it was one of his rips or the wooden framing that caught him. Either way, he was dazed. The world was completely jumbled up; he couldn’t see straight.

Colors faded, darkness edging from the corners of his vision. Was he going to die here?

An image of Kondo appeared in his mind; he was still fighting downstairs. No, no, Souji couldn’t die here. He had to protect Kondo. “I can still fight…” he choked out, forcing himself up, although he wasn’t sure if he was still on his knees or standing up. His ears were ringing; his vision still out of sorts. But he would not lose; he cannot lose.

Suddenly, he felt something warm envelop him. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he tried, focusing all his strength into his senses. He couldn’t move his sword arm, and he could only manage a strangled groan as the thing holding up held him close. His body suddenly felt warm, the sensation spreading through his entire body. It felt nice, like a warm breeze on a chilly night. It was then, from what little he could see, a light overtaking his sight. It wasn’t intense like a sun, more like moonlight.

_Moonlight, warmth, losing sensation, losing consciousness._

_NO!_

He forced his eyes to concentrate on the thing in front of him—it was a person—only to realize the danger this individual had put herself. A rush of energy surged through his body, instincts telling him to _grab her_ and _get her behind him_. She mustn’t get hurt; he had to protect her.

Grabbing her forearm, Souji jerked her petite body back as he stumbled forward. His sword pointed out, held clumsily in his left hand—at this point he envied Hajime’s left handedness—his weaker right arm acting as a shield to her, spread out with the palm facing towards her. “Your opponent is me!” he declared in a clear voice, his own voice sounding muffled in his still ringing ears. His opponent, the ronin, grimaced, perhaps scuffing at his insistence on continuing to fight.

But then again, that was how Souji had always been. He didn’t understand the definition of “give-up.” Quitting wasn’t in his vocabulary.

The man, however, didn’t seem keen on continuing the fight. He sheathed his blade and turned to leave. Rage boiled in Souji’s veins at this part. This ronin dared to pick a fight, then just decides to walk away all willy-nilly. Well, he wasn’t having any of it. Taking a step in the direction the ronin was walking, Souji snapped, “Hey, get back he—”

His remaining word was cut off. He lurched forward, dropping his sword and hitting face first into the floor. The world begun to spin violently; he was light-headed. Pain encompassed his entire being, everything just hurting and quaking uncontrollably.

A distorted face appeared before him, muffled words pleading him to stay awake. He felt a smirk work up on his lips. That girl, did she even care about her own life?

It then struck him. ‘She’ was Yukimura Chizuru, the charge they had to care for. She was in danger’s way, willingly. He had protected her without a second thought, no hint of hesitation or even rationalizing his actions.

His words from that morning came back to him; _“Just so we’re clear, if we happen to get into trouble along the way, I’m ditching her.”_

While it was meant as a joke, he had no intention of going out of his way to protect her. Did he? He didn’t know anymore. His mind was still reeling from the blood lost and pain. Sleep. He needed sleep.

* * *

_ ~*July 1864*~ _

* * *

 

It was a few weeks later, under the light of a full moon, that Souji found himself frustrated with himself. It was strange how he couldn’t stop thinking about this young girl and his actions several nights ago. He didn’t get it.

He had made it clear he cared little for her. Sure, he could relate to her in some sense; he didn’t hate her, either. He found her interesting, yet his opinion of her constantly charged the more he got to know her. She was an enigma. He couldn’t figure her out. It frustrated him, yet it fascinated him, as well. She was a young girl lost in a big, scary world, but survival of fittest was a rule Souji knew too well controlled this reality. If she couldn’t handle it, she was better off dead. Not only that, but her mere presence was inconveniencing the Shinsengumi, and Kondo especially. Souji had remembered Kondo going to his sponsors and pleading with the Aizu. He remembered Kondo doing his best to accommodate her as best as he could, and the hint of jealousy and anger Souji had first felt. There was no grudge against her, per say, but he did wish several times that this girl hadn’t stumbled across their little secret.

So much happening. Souji was honestly beginning to wonder if he should even bother when he heard strange sounds. Cocking his head, he listened for a moment, realizing shortly thereafter what the sounds were.

Someone was experiencing quite the orgasm. It was a woman, judging by the sounds of the pitch. Souji didn’t want to listen anymore once he made that discovery, but his gut told him, reminded him, that women weren’t _technically_ supposed to be in HQ. Well, with the exception of one.

Careful not to wake his roommates, Souji tip-toed out of his room and proceeding slowly down the hall towards the sounds. As he proceeded down the hall, he realized he was on his way to Chizuru’s room. Everyone should be asleep, minus Hijikata, as that idiot tended to hit nights long and hard. That included Chizuru, and yet…

His green eyes narrowing, Souji realized the sounds stopped suddenly. Did someone know he was nearby? He waited, listening intensely when a sound came, sounding like a mixed cry of pain and pleasure. The sound shot straight to his dick, hardening it. Clicking his tongue, Souji ignored the discomfort under his night gown and stood still, waiting.

Nothing happened. Realizing his missed opportunity, he began to make his way back to his room when a thought struck him.

Hijikata. Chizuru. It couldn’t…

Glancing around him, he passed his own room and went by Hijikata’s room. It was dark, unusual for this time of night, only increasing his suspicions.

Huh, he never took Hijikata as being THAT type of man.

Normally, Souji would find this hilarious. He found something to dangle over the vice commander’s head, so he should be happy over this piece of information. But he wasn’t.

Souji couldn’t explain it, but he was suddenly very pissed at Hijikata. Not the “I’m-angry-you-did-that,” kind of pissed, but more of a, “How-fucking-dare-you,” kind of pissed. Why, though? Why was Souji so angry all of a sudden?

Growling in frustration, Souji tried to prevent himself from stomping as he made his way back to his room. The discomfort of his groin only increased, though, various images of Hijikata ravaging young Chizuru’s supple skin, tasting her sweet lips and her fluids—

 _Shit, shit, fuck! Stop it!_ He can’t think like that! This needs to stop! It needs to—

His stiff dick needed to be taken care of. Passing his room a second time, he hurried to the bathhouse. It would provide some privacy, at least, and a place to clear his thoughts.

The bathhouse was empty when he reached it, as expected. The screen that normally leaned at the wall closest to the door wasn’t in its usual spot, but Souji didn’t care. Grabbing a towel, he already had worked his belt loose, his erection visible now in the moon-lit night.

Squatting, he made quick work. He was a little rough, mind you, but the frustration and confusion had built up, fusing together to create this unbearable sexual frustration. To help move it along, he imagined himself in Hijikata’s place, hovering over Chizuru’s wet, naked body, kissing every surface, ramming his cock into her body hard, moaning in pleasure along with her. It took longer that he wanted it to, but when he finally came, he let out a sigh of relief, his member finally going limb between his legs.

It was enraging to think he was so bothered by this. What was Hijikata’s business was his own damn business. Souji didn’t care if he slept with one woman or twenty. It was a non-issue.

Yet the thought of Hijikata sleeping with Chizuru, something about that sent him over the edge, plaguing Souji was jealousy. But why? What made Chizuru so special?

And what if it wasn’t Hijikata? It made sense, though, to suspect him, since Hajime and Sano were both out on patrol, and Shinpachi, well, while it made sense for Shinpachi do try something like that, he had heard Shinpachi’s distinctive snore while on his way to the source of the noise.

Heisuke was bedridden, like Souji was supposed to be. There was no way Sannan or Kondo or Gen would do something like this. And Yamazaki and Shimada were both on assignments. And he wasn’t going to suspect the remaining captains, as none of them had expressed any interest in getting to know Chizuru at all.

It made sense. Bringing Chizuru back alive, advocating her life, suggesting she be someone’s page. It made sense, in this sick, twisted, conspiracy way. Chuckling to himself, Souji dressed himself and made his way back to his room. Honestly, though, why was he worried? He had no real interest in Chizuru. He was just bored and enjoyed her reactions. Nothing more.

But, was that really the truth?

* * *

Heisuke’s head hurt bad. Like, really bad. It was this constant throbbing right behind his eyeballs, which made it all the more difficult to move up and around.

Still, nature called, and Heisuke had to relieve himself. Once business was done, he made his way back to his room, slightly disgruntled he’d have to go back to sleep with Shinpachi’s snoring in the backdrop.

He had just entered the hall when he saw… something. Blinking, he halted, staring into the darkness, making out a large shape of something standing there, unmoving, staring right back at him with glowing yellow eyes.


	6. The Monster Under My Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NaNoWriMo chapter, which means it's shit right now. Chapter 3 onward will be shit until November is over.

_ ~*July 19,1864*~ _

* * *

 

Its form was large, yet oddly human shaped. Or at least at first glance. With only the moonlight on his back, and the glowing eyes of the thing before him, Heisuke realized, in utter horror, that thing was far from human.

It wasn’t just large, it was massive. Its head seemed to reach the ceiling, with a long tail twitching behind it. Its limbs were elongated, like a monkey’s, even possessing monkey paws at the end of both arms. Its ears were long and pointed, and its black body seemed to covered head-to-toe in fur.

Heisuke remained perfectly still, silently cursing himself for not bringing his (short sword). Even though it was just a trip to the bathroom, it could very well cost him dearly. Worst yet, he was dressed in nothing but his night gown, bare-footed, his long hair hanging down. The only thing between him and this monster were his fists.

A grin began to work its way onto his lips.  He might be smaller and severally unarmed, but he had faced against worse odds. The bandage on his forehead could vouch for him on that. Besides, size didn’t really matter in a fight—

Suddenly, the shadow moved. Its tail flicking behind it, it twirled away from him and stalked back into the darkness. That was when Heisuke noticed the long snout the creature possessed. A large snout probably full of razor sharp teeth, ready to kill.

No longer thinking of what kind of harm he could get in by challenging the beast, he ran after it, his feet loudly slapping against the wooden planks. The creature was out of sight now, but it didn’t matter; he was going to find it, or at least alert his fellow captains of its presence.

Indeed, as he suspected, doors began to slam open and commotion could be heard through the hallway. However, Heisuke had already exited the hallway, still pursuing the creature. Moonlight, thankfully, came back to guide him, picking up his pace as he feverishly chased after the fleeing shadow.

Seeing the tip of the tail disappear around a corner, one he knew led to a dead end, he burst into a sprint.

The dead end hallway was barren of life when he reached it.

Mouth hanging open, Heisuke slapped his hands against the wood. _No!_ he cried inside. Something was wrong. He saw something. It couldn’t have—

An outcry behind him didn’t even break Heisuke from his frantic thoughts, even when Hijikata stomped up to him and yelled in his ears. His friends laughing at his foolishness didn’t break him from his stupor, either. His mind was still reeling, struggling to comprehend what he had seen.

The creature was real. He knew that. He saw it with his own eyes. He saw _it_. The large monstrous shadow was not a trick of his mind. One simply did not imagine something as outlandish as that. And its eyes. Its eyes were so… yellow, like molten golden, shining in the pitch blackness of the unlit hallway.

He had seen _it_ , whatever _it_ was. And Heisuke swore, amongst the mockery and scolding, that he found prove its existence, whatever means necessary.

* * *

Sano knew something was amiss in HQ.

Several things, actually. And it had nothing to do with the obvious ‘project’ of the Shinsengumi that would never disappear, no matter how much he wished it would, nor his little secret that he had been hiding since his little suicide attempt years ago.

His monthly visits to the washroom in the middle of the night bothered him, but that only really had nothing ‘out-of-the-ordinary.’ Men had needs, sexual in particular. No, what had bothered him was he was beginning to notice a pattern.

Chizuru’s pleasure cries came only at night (which wasn’t suspicious) always under the light of a full moon (which was a little strange, especially after four months). Sano found the pattern a little strange, especially since he realized she only made those noises in the beginning of the night. But that really didn’t mean anything. It just meant she had a pattern, and she liked to stick to that pattern.

And who was he to judge, anyway? He was masturbating to her sounds, and worse yet, he was imagining himself giving her pleasure.

He wouldn’t say Chizuru was unattractive. While she was forced to wear boy clothes and appeared very plain to most, he did find a certain charm about her demeanor. She was cute, but that been Sano’s only opinion of her, outside of her being very unfortunate to be forced into this situation with the Shinsengumi. That is, until he began to develop a hard on every time he heard her moan in pleasure.

Gods, she might not know it, but she had this ability to turn a man. Last night’s deed had been even harder to do, despite Sano readying himself. Heisuke and Shinpachi were both sound asleep when Chizuru began to make the love noises, so Sano had slipped out immediately, resisting to play along with his mind until he reached the Yagi bathhouse.

He immediately set out to do his work, just wanting to end things, embarrassment burning his face. He didn’t come as fast as he wanted to, though, which only frustrated and embarrassed Sano even more. Damn body sometimes had a mind of its own.

It was then that he realized he wasn’t alone in the bathroom. Sano heard the slapping of bare feet on the cold stone floor, which caused Sano’s hand to freeze in mid-stroke, his heart no longer hammering for release, but for fear.

Whoever had come inside the washroom seemed to have the same problem as he did. Sano listened in horror as he heard someone else (there was no way Sano was going to try to identify who the person was; he had standards) pleasure himself in the very same bathhouse.

Sano remained absolutely still, very, very much aware that his arousal was becoming stiffer by the second. Still, he would not do anything until the other individual left. Call it guy pride or whatever.

When the person left, Sano once again tried to finish his business. This time, he dug deeper, closing his eyes and allowing his imagination to take hold.

He didn’t want to see Chizuru naked and below him. He didn’t want to hear her cries of pleasure as he rammed hard into her, chanting his name, his given name, over and over. He didn’t want to be chanting her own name, nor did he want to touch her, lick her, kiss her, taste her.

Yet he imagined all that and more. He imagined her with her ass pressed against his scar, his dick inside her, her slick walls crushing in on his hard erection. He imagined thrusting again and again into her, with every slap of skin came a cry from her, pleading for more. He imagined his hands cover her hands, squeezing them with every thrust. He imagined kissing the base of her neck, tasting her over and over as he claimed her as his own.

When release came, Sano let out, for once in the real world, a cry of frustration. Over what, he couldn’t say at that moment. Perhaps his possessive male streak was angry that Chizuru wasn’t his, and that it was only his imagination. Perhaps he was angry at his possessive male streak for thinking Chizuru should be his. Or perhaps he was mad at himself, for everything he was doing to himself.

He was lost in this maze of emotion, of pleasure and sex and want and desire. He was steaming hot, driven mad with lust, yet his honor, his decency, his desire to protect twisted everything around, and vice versa. It was a constant struggle when these nights came, and he felt there was no real way to resist this madness as long as he found himself drawn towards Chizuru.

That’s why, moments later, he was very grateful for Heisuke’s apparent ruckus. Hijikata had been returning from somewhere when he discovered Heisuke chasing after, well, something. Only when Hijikata had caught up with the young captain, there was nothing there.

Sano heard it all from Shinpachi that morning. Sano had arrived late when the rest of the captains were scolding or laughing at Heisuke for whatever shenanigans he had gotten into again. He didn’t hear everything, nor did anyone else know what was going on. He had asked Souji what had happened, but the 1st captain merely shrugged, having no answer.

The following morning, everyone finally got their answer from the horse’s mouth.

Heisuke raved the entire morning, first at Hijikata for making a big ruckus when, in fact, he was not fooling around. Apparently, according to Heisuke, he had been in pursuit of something.

“What?” Shinpachi mumbled through a mouthful of food. Sano glared in disgust and slapped his friend upside the head. Shinpachi grunted in pain, rubbing his head and glaring daggers back at the redhead. Sano, however, was not in the mood.

“Swallow before you talk,” Sano snapped, pointing at Chizuru. “Show some manners for the young lady here, okay?”

“Oh.” Shinpachi blinked, glancing over Sano’s shoulder at Chizuru. The young girl coughed nervously, picking at her food with her chopsticks, looking as sheepish as ever.

“It’s okay, Nagakura-san; I wasn’t looking,” she stated, trying her best to smile at him, but only managing a tired grin instead.

Shinpachi, in turn, coughed in embarrassment. “My bad.”

“Damn straight it’s your bad.” Turning to Chizuru, Sano added, “And you don’t need to put on a brave face for Shinpachi, Chizuru. You’ve got my permission to scold him.”

“Oh, I can’t,” she replied immediately, shaking her head nervously. Sano chuckled a bit and, unable to resist, reached out and ruffled her hair a bit. Somehow, that gesture not only calmed Chizuru, but it also settled Sano’s inner conflicts as well. Physical attraction was physical attraction. There was nothing really there, and the only reason it was coming out was because he, Harada Sanosuke, 10th division captain, was frustrated over his own circumstances.

Chizuru was their charge, someone they had to protect and keep an eye on. She was an innocent victim, unfortunate enough to be forced into such grave situations yet still able to be so polite and kind, despite her circumstances. Sano wasn’t attracted to her, really, he just admired her, and that admiration was just warped into something else due to unresolved tension.

Maybe Sano would take Shinpachi’s offer the next time he suggested they go to Shimabara. He just needed to let off some steam on a more regular basis. That was it.

However, Heisuke seemed to his own ideas. Interrupting the moment Sano had found himself settled in, the young man spat, “Hey, aren’t you guys concerned at all?”

“Not particularly,” Souji stated, sipping his tea. “It’s not like this imaginary thing you saw was real.”

“It was so!” As if to add emphasis to the point, Heisuke slammed his mug on his tray, a decisive crack forming on the clay cup’s side. “I saw it with my own two eyes. It was there. This huge, hairy—”

“Heisuke, if we wanted to know what your girlfriend looked like, I would have gone to meet her myself,” Shinpachi replied, causing Souji to laugh hysterically in response.

Heisuke threw up his hands, snorting in disgust. “Fine. Whatever. But don’t come crying to me when you wake up with it snarling in your faces.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that,” Souji snickered as Shinpachi shook his head.

Sano sighed, rubbing his temples. Honestly, Heisuke had apparently been going on and on about this creature he saw last night. Sano hadn’t been there to witness it, but he had a hard time believing there was some giant, hairy thing inside their headquarters. Surely someone would have seen it.

While thinking of Heisuke’s encounter, Sano noticed that, during the banter between the three, Chizuru had gotten very pale. Blinking in concern, Sano reached up and touched her shoulder. “Hey, you feeling okay?”

She broke from her stupor, staring up at Sano with… was it fear in her eyes? “Huh?”

“You know,” Sano stated, jabbing his thumb at Heisuke, “I’m sure it wasn’t something bad. Heisuke probably just saw a raccoon or a cat.”

“It wasn’t a cat, Sano-san!” Heisuke snapped.

“Dude,” Sano snapped back, glaring at the young captain, hoping he would get the hint, “think about the people around you before you run your mouth again.” His yellow eyes flickered over to Chizuru, and Sano watched as Heisuke followed his gaze.

Almost immediately, Heisuke got the message. “Oh. Oh!” Face burning bright red, he tried looking everywhere but Sano and Chizuru, stuttering, “S-sorry, Chizuru-chan. I, uh, I didn’t see anything scary. It wasn’t scary at all. In fact, it was really fluffy, like a cute, lil’ monkey, only not so little…”

“Heisuke!” Sano barked, but it was already too late. Chizuru picked up her tray and stood up, bowing quickly. “Excuse me,” she spoke softly before padding out of the room in a hurry. Once she was gone, Sano picked up one of the soybeans on his tray and threw it at Heisuke. “Learn some tact!”

“Sorry!” Heisuke blabbered, throwing his hands up defensively. “But I really did see something…”

“Even so,” Shinpachi grumbled, looking at his tea mug, “Sano’s right, man. You can’t just go running your mouth off. Besides, we spent half the night looking for o’ fuzzball and found nothing.”

“But it was dark out!” Heisuke gesturing outside frantically. “You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face!”

“Only for part of the night.” Souji glanced outside himself. “But there was a full moon out. We had plenty of light. We even brought out lanterns out.”

“Still,” Heisuke didn’t know when to quit it, “I don’t think we looked hard enough.”

“Then look for your fuzzy buddy yourself!” Shinpachi yawned loudly. “I’m tired from running around last night looking for something I never saw, okay?”

“Fine!” Heisuke gathered his things. “I’ll find proof myself! Then you’ll be sorry for not believing me!”

“Yeah, yeah. You go do that.” When Heisuke was gone, Shinpachi threw up his hands. “Dammit, Sano, I think that head injury did more than we thought. I mean, come on! Hairy monster running around at night. Yokai don’t exist.”

“Maybe not.” Sano glanced around before adding quietly, “But we certainly have things that don’t exist next door.” Shinpachi and Souji both nodded in agreement, their faces solemn. Whatever Heisuke saw was definitely unlike what they were familiar with. Sano hoped, and he was sure the other two agreed with him on this, that what Heisuke saw was nothing. After all, the implications of something sneaking into headquarters, _something_ monstrous, _something_ dangerous, would have dire consequences.

* * *

 

_ ~*August 19, 1864*~ _

* * *

 

An important message came in, demanding the Shinsengumi’s immediate attention. Chaos ensued in headquarters as everyone gossiped over what the message was all about and what it meant. Others bragged that finally people had begun to take them seriously.

The message contained an order from Aizu. The Shinsengumi were to report to the Aizu troops stationed at the Imperial Palace. It was urgent, demanding all able-bodied men to arrive for direct orders.

Apparently, from what Chizuru could gather from the tis-bit of gossip here and there, an extremist group had made a threat to the royal family, which itself was a grave crime.

Of course, Kondo was pleased to receive such a request from Aizu. To him and his men, their hard work had finally begun to pay off. Ikedaya was still fresh in everyone’s minds, and the Shinsengumi’s successful arrests were a testament to how efficient and hard working the troops were.

Chizuru was glad to hear that the Shinsengumi was finally getting the respect they deserved. While she had only stayed at their headquarters for eight months, she had seen how diligent and serious they were about their work, especially Hijikata. That man never stopped working, it seemed.

As the Shinsengumi prepared themselves for battle, Chizuru expected she would told to stay out of trouble and put under Heisuke’s and Okita’s watch, as they and Sannan were some of the troops they had to leave behind due to injuries. However, she got the exact opposite request. Kondo asked if she would like to join them.

The Wolf didn’t even need to coax her to get her to say yes.

* * *

The campfire crackled in front of her. Her heart racing, Chizuru realized what a horrible mistake she had made.

Above her head was a nearly perfect moon. In fact, to the naked eye, it was full. But it had not yet reached its zenith.

She could already feel her skin crawl. Her hands were chappy and wet. She cursed herself for not bringing a razor, as her forearms and legs were now covered in a slick layer of black body hair. Thankfully, she didn’t have to roll her sleeves up, keeping them down and out of sight while the troops set up camp.

It was annoying to have hair growth suddenly increase right before the full moon came. She already had enough on her plate, what with heightened anxiety causing her to jump at every little sound and The Wolf’s rage boiling over. Twice she had nearly blown up, once when the Shinsengumi were turned away from the main troops, the second being stationed with the reserves and having to hear the reserves’ complaints on being stuck with the ‘Wolves of Mibu.’

She didn’t even need to miss two Changes before she saw red, an image of the intestines of one troop wrapped around his neck gave her a bit of a giddy feeling. And no, she felt no remorse for that image. If she had Changed at the moment, she would have felt no regret inflicting pain on these egotistical, brainless, spineless, pathetic, whiny—

“Chizuru, how you holding up?”

Broken from her internal rant, Chizuru looked up see Harada looking down at her, a charming smile on his face. Relaxing a bit, she replied back easily, “I’m fine. How’s everyone else?”

“Good. Shinpachi’s still peeved over us being bounced around like that.” To add emphasis to his statement, he pointed to the mentioned individual, who, Chizuru noticed, was still griping to Kondo about the incident. She envied him a bit right now. Chizuru really didn’t have to the luxury of letting her frustration out.

Sitting down next to her, Harada rested his spear on one shoulder. “But at least it cooled down. It was roasting earlier.”

Her bones told her it would get worse tomorrow. “It will probably be even warmer tomorrow.”

“You think?” Harada sighed. “Dammit. Where’s a breeze when you need it?”

Giggling, Chizuru leaned toward him and blew in his face. When he stared at her in surprise, she laughed. “You asked for a breeze.”

“Oh?” He smirked back. “I did, huh? Well, then, I should return the favor.” He then blew in her face, sending her into a fit of giggles. He joined in, laughing merrily.

“Am I interrupting something?” Both stopped in their laughter to see Saito, as stoic as ever, standing near the campfire.

“Ah, nah. Chizuru and I were just having some fun. Right?”

Chizuru bobbed her head, sitting up straight. “Right! Oh, Saito-san—”

“Hijikata-san and a few others will be joining us here shortly.” Saito pulled out a jar, holding it out to Harada. “Kondo-san managed to bring along some sake. Hopefully this will calm Shinpachi down.”

“I doubt it.” Harada took the jar nevertheless. “But hey, won’t know ‘til you try.” He glanced over at Chizuru, winking. “I’ll see if I can get us some real breeze makers.” Harada then got up and left, missing Chizuru covering her face, trying hard not to laugh.

Saito watched her quietly. He never said a word, waiting for her giggling fit to leave. Finally, when she noticed he was watching her, she gasped and turned to face him, bowing. “Oh, sorry, Saito-san! I didn’t know you were—”

“We could be called at any time. It is best if you try to get some rest before anything happens.”

Blinking at his suggestion, she found herself slightly embarrassed. Saito was always such a quiet man; she felt bad for not noticing him coming up to her and Harada, and again when Harada went to get Nagakura.

She thanked him and laid down on her side. She had no intention of sleeping, as she knew there would only be nightmares plaguing her until the moon rose tomorrow. For now, she just had to appear as normal as possible, not even hinting to towards her true nature as the beast.

When she had spotted Heisuke, she had feared for the worst. She had stayed perfectly still, hoping he would look away, giving her a chance to flee. He didn’t, though, which led her to make the first move. She fled from the scene, with Heisuke in hot pursuit. She tried to lose him, finally managing to do so by taking a corner and leaping onto the floor. Heisuke had taken the bait, but in the process he had woken the entire compound and told everyone who was willing to listen.

Chizuru was so terrified that morning as he retold hiss tale. She was just waiting for someone to bring the hatchet down, to accuse her of being a werewolf before attempting to kill her. She was only grateful that Harada had made an attempt to ease her worries; it told her that he had no suspicion of what she really was.

Chizuru had to choose her friends and allies carefully. She had always trusted Kondo, being as friendly and outgoing as he behaved, it was hard not to like him. Saito never questioned or seemed to notice the times she slipped up. Heisuke was definitely friendlier than most of the captains, if not a little on the naïve side. She did trust Inoue, as well. Harada she also began to trust. He seemed to have his heart in the right place, and he seemed to trust her, or at least give her a benefit of a doubt. He took her odd behavior as her being a frightened little girl, she suspected, which suited her fine. Anything to avoid suspicion.

But that left the rest of the Shinsengumi as unlikely allies. Sannan had become a rather nasty grump as of late, leading Chizuru to avoid him as much as she could, or at least avoid him when he was in a rather foul mood. Hijikata always seemed to be in a foul mood, and his rather hostile demeanor made her avoid him even more. A werewolf would not survive in the company of grumps.

Nagakura seemed very close to Harada and Heisuke. He seemed trustworthy, if not a little dense (something that could work in her favor if it was true). But she still didn’t know much about that man. He was far too interested in men, and he had been one of the guys in favor of killing her in the beginning. For now, she will keep her guard up around him.

Okita was another matter. He really set her on edge as of late. He never stopped watching her whenever she was around him. He always had something to say, some snarky remark or an insult disguised as a compliment.

There was no way Chizuru could let her guard down near Okita. No matter her own feelings in the matter, she had to value her survival over her desire to quell her loneliness.

Her eyes closed and breathing relaxed, Chizuru pretended to sleep. A slight frown began to form on her lips as she thought about the Ikedaya incident. She had run to find Okita, only to find him in the worst case scenario. She had risked her life to defend him, and for what exactly?

Her good nature had gotten the better of her, she supposed. She remembered her adoptive father scolding her about running into danger, all reckless abandon. She even recalled how her biological father was apparently very much like that, always rushing to others’ aid with little thought for his own. She remembered the sting of Kodo comparing her father’s fate to her own, telling Chizuru that she needed to value her own safety more, or else she will be killed, much like how her own father had been killed.

If Kodo had learned what Chizuru did at the Ikedaya, he would have had a cow. He would have raged and ranted over how the consequences didn’t even make sense. Save a man’s life and he continues to observe you like a hawk? She should have not interfered. Especially if there was the chance of Okita knowing the truth. Not just about being a werewolf, but about being an oni as well.

There were two sides to every coin. Chizuru was no exception. That night at the Ikedaya, she had opted out of using her Wolf abilities in favor of her oni ones. More rusty than The Wolf, her innate abilities were more trustworthy in terms of being controllable. She could unleash her inner power without fear of losing control, and she had control over making appear whenever she needed it.

Admittedly, she had gone overboard that night. She had rushed in, her inner oni flaring out, catching Okita falling and holding him up as best she could. Her strength let her easily hold him up, but there was the opponent she worried about moreso.

She had hoped that the glowing eyes, white hair and horns would scare him away. She had done this before, only in her werewolf form; one could say she was an expert on frightening people. And even though the man was a ronin, she had been so certain that her oni form would frighten the man away.

It didn’t.

Instead, the man began to bombard her with questions. Why was she there? Why was she aiding these humans? So many questions, yet Chizuru had refused to answer any of them. She demanded he leave now, or face the consequences. He did not know that she meant to dabble straight into her Wolf powers, already feeling the beast clawing the surface with an angry snarl.

It was only after Okita had gotten up and regained conscious that the ronin left. He had smirked at her, a knowing smirk, before leaping lazily out of the window, vanishing into the night.

That smirk had sent tremors down her spine. That smirk might have well be a threat, because she got the sickening feeling she knew what he meant by that gesture.

He planned on seeing her again.

After they had returned from making the arrests, Chizuru had berated herself for being so foolish. Certainly it was better her oni side be revealed than her werewolf side, but that had still been a massive risk. If Okita or another captain had figured out that she wasn’t human, they would most likely take her completely captive, or even lock her up and torture her for intel.

Even if someone like her, a fellow oni, found out she was an oni, she ran the risk of being kidnapped. According to her father, this was sadly a common thing in a world where the oni were losing power. Powerful female pure-bloods like herself were hard to find. Families had too many sons and not enough daughters. Females were practically forced to marry male oni in order to preserve their bloodline, no matter how little it was. More and more male oni had no choice but to seek human wives, and many families sought females like it was their lifeblood, which, technically, it was.

Kodo had done everything he could to keep it a secret that Chizuru, the last living Yukimura, a pure-blood female, had survived. He knew what would happen if word of her existence reached the surface. Oni suitors would come from every neck of the woods, never giving them peace. Under normal circumstances, Kodo would know he could never, or should, keep her existence a secret forever, so he would have sought his own suitor for her, careful to select the mate for her and keep the engagement secret from the rest of the oni world until he knew she would be safe.

But she had no normal circumstances. She was infected with lycanthropy, and she could easily infect another. Just one bite from her could turn another, human or oni, into a rampaging lunatic. She was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. That was why Kodo went even further than he should normally have. He never reported to the princess of Yase (the monarch of all oni in Japan) to Chizuru’s existence. He had no intention of finding a suitor, either, until Chizuru was cured. That was his promise. Until then, he will keep her company during those lonely nights, where the monster came out to play.

A trickle ran down her nose. She didn’t realize she was crying, nor did she realize she had begun to fall asleep as she went deeper into her mind, lost to all her worries and fears. She didn’t just think of her adoptive father and the kindness he had given her. She thought of the family she had lost, the mentor she barely had time to know, the friends she will never make due to her curse.

* * *

 

_ ~*August 20, 1864*~ _

* * *

 

_"Werewolves are considered monsters. Do you think that’s true?”_

_A young Chizuru looked up at the shaggy haired man sitting in front of her. Frowning, the four year old kicked at the ground. “Werewulfs aren’t scawy.”_

_“They’re not?”_

_Chizuru nodded vigorously. “You’re a werewulf. Imma werewulf. We’re not scawy.”_

_Her mentor chuckled lightly. “No, I don’t suppose so.” His gray eyes narrowed slightly. “But what about under a full moon? Are we scary then?”_

_The little girl looked down. “Maybe…”_

_“It’s okay to be scary, sometimes, though.”_

_Chizuru looked up again, meeting her mentor in the eyes. “Weally?”_

_Her mentor nodded. “Sometimes, we need to protect people.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because werewolves, like people, need family. And like wolves, we need a pack.”_

_“‘An alpha must always pwotect his omega,’ wight?”_

_“That’s right. And that’s why it’s okay to be scary sometimes.”_

_“So I can pwotect Alpha-jiji!”_

_“Yes, little one. And I’ll protect Omega-chan.”_

Chizuru jerked awake, a large hand on her shoulder. Looking around in confusion, she saw Harada looking down at her. She barely had time to process what was going on when she heard Hijikata shout, “Men, get your asses moving!”

“Probably should listen to Hijikata-san,” Harada stated, giving her shoulder a little squeeze. “He’s not in the best of moods right now.”

“O-okay.” Getting up, she raised her hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes only to find wetness. Tears, she realized, after sniffing them quickly. She must have been crying from her dream last night. No, not a dream. A memory. A cruel reminder of what she had lost.

Alpha-jiji, she thought sadly. Old wounds were took time to heal, but every time she thought of her kindly mentor, the more it hurt. It was more than losing a friend. It was like a piece of her heart was ripped out of her chest.

Clenching her fist to her chest, she took in a deep breath and then exhaled. Now was not the time for sentimental feelings.

* * *

The Wolf was already awakening once they reached the charred gates. Cannon fire riddled the layout. Voices shouted at one another, and gunpowder invaded Chizuru’s nose. Behind her, she heard Hijikata giving orders out, each group giving a specific task. She was partially listening, but another part of her was being tugged in a particular direction. Inclining her head, she sniffed the air.

An image flashed before her eyes, a daylight nightmare. Her mentor, dead, his heart torn from his corpse, his head rolled off to the side. A small trickle of blood dripped out of his open mouth, wide gray eyes staring out into space, a half formed muzzle ripping through the sun kissed skin.

Beside her late mentor was a group of men. One man held her mentor’s heart high above his head, laughing jovially. A clean shaven face, the crest of a clan on his headband, and a small scar on his chin.

That scent. She knew that scent.

The Wolf roared, howling for blood. It clawed and barked, kicking its feet and snapping its jaws. It knew that scent. It would never forget that scent.

_Murderer. Alpha-jiji is dead. Alpha-jiji is dead because him! MURDERER!_

Her eyes shone yellow. Her fingers itched into claws, and her canines sharpened. Nostrils flaring, she bolted, no longer paying attention to her surroundings. Anger, no, raw hatred flooded her entire system, The Wolf charging through, overtaking all rational all.

_MURDERER!_

_MURDERER!_

_YOU KILLED ALPHA-JIJI!_

_DIE!_

_DIE!_

_KILL!_

_MUST KILL!_

_KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL!!!_

* * *

Toshizo swore when he saw the Shinsengumi’s charge bolt. He had honestly not expected her to try to flee, and yet there she went. Running after her, he shouted over his shoulder, “Nagakura, go after those bastards for me!” He didn’t wait long enough for a response as he picked up the pace, his charge slowly gaining distance.

They ran for a bit before Toshizo made a startling discovery. Chizuru should have known by now that, in order to escape, she would have to take less traveled roads. Moreover, she should also not be heading the same way those Choshu bastards apparently were heading.

Toshizo opted to follow her instead of catching her. In fact, that was perhaps the better option, he realized, as he paid attention to the way she ran and moved. After chasing so many criminals and arresting so many ronin, he knew the sight of a fleeing criminal. They always looked over their shoulders, always ran in a more panicked fashion with large jerky movements. Normally, their arms flared out and their posture leaned back.

Chizuru had none of those signs. She ran postured forward. Her steps were guided, like she was in pursuit of something. Her arms were held closer to her sides, hands crunched together. She never once looked back, either.

This was not the stance of a coward. This was the stance of someone out for blood.

Narrowing his purple eyes, Toshizo grasped his sword hilt as he ran. He had no idea if she was attempting to lure him away from the Shinsengumi or what. He didn’t even know if that idea held any water. Chizuru had plenty of chances, admittedly, to attempt an escape. She never once took any of them. Toshizo had become convinced this girl was an idiot for not even trying. But then again, there was her missing father. It made sense that she would stay with the last people who saw her father alive.

So this attempt at escape made no sense. The way she was going about it made no sense either. Just what was going on.

They were almost at the bridge that would soon lead to Mount Tennou. Looking around Chizuru’s slight frame, he noticed a figure standing on the bridge, alone.

It seemed Chizuru noticed the figure, too, as her pace began to lose focus, and she stumbled to a halt. Toshizo gave no warning as he came up behind her, grasping her sag shoulder with his free hand (noting her flinching as he did so) as his sword hand tightened its grip. “Oi, you! On the bridge! Bad day for a stroll, you know?”

The individual straightened up, moving away from the railing he had been casually leaning on. Chizuru flinched again when he called the man out. Leaned down a bit, he hissed into her ear, “You better have a damn good reason to run off like that.”

“Hijikata-san,” she whispered back, her body shaking slightly, “he’s from Ikedaya. Okita-san was the one—”

“Him, huh?” He snorted ruefully at the figure now standing in the middle of the bridge. “Pathetic. Souji won’t hear the end of this when I’m done with this asshole.” Releasing her shoulder, no longer fearing her fleeing, Toshizo walked forward, towards the man on the bridge, no, the man from Ikedaya.

The man was slender in build, scrawny in Toshizo’s opinion, with only one sword at his side. He scrunched his nose at the sight of the man’s expensive looking kimono and haori. _Rich boy. Great. Looks like Choshu couldn’t even afford to offer up decent men to stale the Shinsengumi and Aizu. Typical._

The man said nothing as Toshizo approached, his hand relaxed over the hilt of the katana at his side. He didn’t look worried at as the demon commander unsheathed his blade, pointing it directly at him.

The stranger smirked at the sight of the bare blade. “Well, well. My luck would have it that I ran into another from the Shinsengumi. Tell me,” slowly, the man pulled out his own sword, “are you going to fare better than my previous opponent?”

“You’re the one who took out Okita-kun, huh?” Toshizo snarled. Okay, he had full intention of ragging on Souji later. First, this guy’s head. “Let me ask you something, bub. Did Choshu honestly think they could flee the battlefield without so as much as a peep from anyone?”

“I suppose that’s why I’m here.” The stranger shrugged, glancing around Toshizo. “But nevertheless, I could be asking you a similar question. Did you country bumpkins honestly think allying yourself to Aizu would immediately grant you samurai rights?”

“Cute,” Toshizo snorted. “Well, I hope your sword hand is as good as your tongue.”

Then he charged.

* * *

Chikage didn’t think his luck could get any better.

The female oni he had encountered in Ikedaya appeared again before him. While he did wish they had encountered each other under less… inconvenient situations, he was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

What’s more, he had a job to accomplish. Buying the fleeing Choshu samurai time to commit seppuku had been the order, and it was a job he was going to see through.

Although, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun.

The human known as the ‘demon vice-commander,’ Hijikata Toshizo, was as hot tempered as rumored. He swung his sword with cold fury, metal hissing against metal as Chikage lifted his sword up to parry the blow.

As the two exchanged blows, Chikage easily keeping up with the human’s thrusts and jabs, the oni occasionally spared a glance over at the female oni. She stood there, watching, her hands clamped together. Was she worried for the human?

 _What a strange girl_ , he thought as he casually moved away from the human’s attack. _What is her relationship with these humans?_ Honestly, this was why he wished they had met in a more private setting.

He managed to catch a glimpse of her sword hilt as he parried and danced away from the human’s eager attacks. The hilt seemed very familiar to him, yet he couldn’t put his finger on it. Not only that, but only half of his mind was on identifying on the kodachi she carried, the other was on the battle.

Interestingly enough, the human called out to the female oni. “Chizuru! Go to Mount Tennou! Stall for time!”

Chizuru…? The character ‘sen’ was in the name ‘Chizuru.’ That meant that—

He couldn’t finish his thought as he heard the girl reply, “Yessir!” before running past the two battling warriors. Chikage grinded his teeth. There went his chance of learning more about the oni girl. At least for now. Just that thought made him want to finish the battle all the more quickly.

And then came the cavalry, as the human saying goes.

* * *

Chizuru allowed The Wolf control once more, this time with more restraint on it. The scent of her mentor’s killer still fresh in the air, she ran up the mountain. She was certain Nagakura and his unit were on their way. Most likely, they were already reaching the bridge and the ensuing fight. Chizuru only had to keep the Choshu rebels occupied enough for Nagakura’s unit to arrive.

Time. She had to buy them time.

The Wolf howled impatiently. It emerged outward, baring claws and fangs. Her face twisted into that of a beast.

The Wolf was out to hunt.

* * *

They had all prepared to cut their stomachs open when they reached the summit. They had everything prepared. Nothing had been left to chance.

And yet, none of them had factored in an encounter with a werewolf.

Then again, most of them knew nothing of these creatures. They did not know that a werewolf a wolf in human (or oni) skin. They did not know that werewolves were as savage of their beastly counterparts. They did not even know they existed. Until now, that is.

The beast, in the form of a human charged one Choshu retainer, snarling, fangs bared, mad yellow eyed craving blood and flesh. He, out of all the men on top of Mount Tennou, was the only one who ever encountered a werewolf prior to today. He had killed one, cut off its head and removed its heart.

Ironic then, that was how he met his own death. His throat was torn off, his head practically dangling off a mostly severed spinal cord, and his heart was ripped forcefully from his heart, still beating until the life essence flooded out, beating one more time.

He had made the mistake of moving away from the group, having heard a strange noise. He immediately regretted, seeing the face of a monster he knew too well. He never got the death he had hoped for, torn to shreds by the very creature he had killed years ago.

The monster roared, a brutal high-pitched scream. Fresh blood dripped from its claws, its clothes covered in plasma and other fluids. It had looked so human once, until rage twisted its innocent face, revealing the beast within.

The remaining men heard the cry; there was no time to waste. They tore into their stomachs, cutting through kidneys and liver. Fluids poured out, and a few passed out, the pain too much to bear.

When the monster arrived in the clearing, only one had succeeded in killing himself. The rest soon met their fate by the claws of a monster.

* * *

Shinpachi was met with a grizzly sight when he reached the top of Mount Tennou. Chizuru, poor, little, innocent Chizuru, was there, curled up in a ball, drenched head-to-toe in water. He recalled a small stream on the way up the mountain; she must have fallen in on her way here.

Removing his haori, he placed it on her shoulders and told one of the foot soldiers to stay with her as he and the rest looked for survivors.

There was none.

It was not the work of an assassin nor a swordsman. Claw markings mauled the deceased’s skin. Each victim’s throat was slashed open. One victim’s stomach had been completely ripped open, and the intestines had been used as a noose of another, his head hanging limply to the side as his body dangled from a tree.

Another victim’s skull had been completely smashed open. The jawbone was jabbed into the heart of another victim. Yet another victim’s arms were torn off. They were tossed aside, on top of another lifeless body.

Each victim had wounds to the stomach. Incomplete seppuku for all except two, the first having completed the ritual, the second’s stomach untouched, his heart torn out of his head and head nearly decapitated.

It was hell on earth on Mount Tennou.

“Shit,” Shinpachi murmured, pitching the bridge of his nose. “What the fuck happened?”

“Captain,” the soldier in charge of watching over Chizuru walked up to him. “The page wants to speak to you. He might know what happened, since he came here first.”

“Yeah.” Shinpachi turned and walked over to the young girl. He couldn’t stop pitying the poor girl. Could she ever catch a break? First her father, then the Shinsengumi’s secret, Ikedaya, and now this. Misfortune seemed to follow her everywhere she went.

Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, Shinpachi asked softly, “What is it, Yukimura? Are you okay?” He remembered Sano saying something along the lines of comforting a woman befor questioning her. He hoped this worked on Chizuru.

It seemed to, as she slowly raised her head and mumbled, “A monster did this.”

“A monster, huh?” Shinpachi glanced over his shoulder. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.” He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “But hey, it couldn’t have been a total monster if it left you alive, right?”

He had hoped those words would calm her. Instead, he got the strangest look from her. He couldn’t pin just what she was thinking with that look, but it didn’t matter. A soldier called for him, and Shinpachi got up, patting Chizuru gently on the back. “Hold it together, Yukimura. We’ll be off this hellhole in a bit.”

He then turned back to the carnage before him.

* * *

Chikage watched Kyoto burn from the hillside. Amagiri stood nearby, his arm crossed.

“Kazama, are you not listening again?”

 _When do I ever?_ he thought mildly as he sighed. “You’re still going off about my challenging a human.”

“You had a simple job to do. Yet you allowed a captain and his unit to reach the top of Tennou.”

Chikage shrugged. “A simple miscalculation. I had forgotten wolves hunt in packs.”

Detecting the sneer in his tone, Amagiri sighed. But, thankfully, he decided to let the topic go. However, the change in subjects was not pleasant to listen to, as Amagiri informed Chikage;

“There’s news towards the fate of the Choshu rebels who fled. All of them dead, yet only one by seppuku.”

“What?” Chikage glared at Amagiri. Did the Shinsengumi manage to make it all the way to the top before they could complete the ritual? Or did that little female oni have something to do with it?

Amagiri shook his head. “The Shinsengumi were not responsible. In fact, they are trying to keep the cause of death secret, but I managed to overhear one of them discussing the issue.”

“And? Cut to the chase, Amagiri.” Chikage was growing impatient with each passing second. If it wasn’t the Shinsengumi or the oni girl, then who was it?

Amagiri’s face was grave as he replied grimly, “The bodies were mauled to death. By what, no one knows.”


	7. The Mystery Thickens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God bless Cha Aegis for the banana joke.
> 
> Also, NaNoWriMo shit chapter.

_ ~*August 20, 1864*~ _

* * *

 

The Change began right as they were walking through the gates of headquarters.

Her spine suddenly snapped, beginning to reposition itself for the upcoming transformation. Stumbling forward, she excused herself hurriedly before darting inside, sprinting into her room and slamming the door shut.

“Chizuru!” She heard Hijikata shout her name as her spine snapped and popped. Grinding her teeth, she resisted the urge to scream. She couldn’t even use her old trick, either. Her hands flew over her clothes, nearly tearing them off as she desperately tried to remove the garments quickly. Her shoulder blades were already bulging out and her hair was turning white by the time she removed everything.

“Oi, Chizuru!” Hijikata was already in front of the closed door. Chizuru snatched the blanket off the floor and threw it over her.

Don’t come in, don’t come in, she thought, pleading with any god to hear her.

“Hijikata-san, let’s leave her be.” It was Nagakura. Chizuru bent over, crunching her sides as claws grew over her fingernails, cutting into her hips and drawing blood. Chizuru then tried to ease  herself down to her knees as Nagakura and Hijikata talked right outside her door.

“She saw a lot today. Just give her some place, okay?” It was Nagakura again, speaking in a low voice. He must not want Chizuru to hear him, even though she technically could.

Hijikata replied with, “… Fine. It’s been a busy day, anyway.” He then raised his voice, addressing Chizuru through the screen, “Oi, Chizuru. Get some rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”

She hissed in a quick breath before forcing her voice to sound as normal as possible. “A-alright!” Her voice hitched at the end a bit, and she quickly bit her lip, hopefully no one noticed.

Thankfully, Hijikata and Nagakura had already left. She sighed before letting out a strangled grunt. Changing here was too dangerous. Yet she couldn’t just leave…

Or could she?

* * *

 

When she jumped over the fence of the compound, no one stopped her. Naked and alone, she made a mad dash for an alley, before scaling the walls onto the roof. There she transformed into her monstrous form under the cursed light of the moon.

But hell wasn’t over yet. The images of her deeds flashed in front of her eyes again and again, torturing her, reminding her of what she had done.

The Wolf had been satisfied with the kill. The death of one of Alpha-jiji’s murderers had brought a cold chill of pleasure down its spine. But it thirsted for more. It craved the flesh of Alpha-jiji’s other murderers, the whole group of men who took its alpha from it.

But The Oni wanted no more bloodshed. She pled with The Wolf to calm itself, to be satisfied with one death. The Oni reminded The Wolf it had slaughtered other men along with the killer. Were those deaths not enough?

But none of them had been Alpha-jiji’s killer. Only one of them bore the sin, and the rest were in the way. They were also a threat to the Shinsengumi, a threat to her. The Wolf had seen the fire from the mountain, had felt the heat on its fur, a familiar yet faint sensation that it had seen this image before.

It hadn’t, but The Oni had.

The Oni had seen her village burn. She had seen her family slaughtered, and her mother and father taken from her. Not too shortly after that, she lost her twin brother, and her mentor attacked her in his lupine form, infecting her with The Wolf’s curse.

Thinking back to the encounter, The Wolf had only gone up the mountain to kill Alpha-jiji’s murderer. Once it did that, The Wolf had calmed down, that is, until it saw the first wisps of smoke. The Oni, still haunted by the memory, wailed in terror and sorrow, and The Wolf, sensing the danger, charged into the clearing.

These men were responsible for the fire. They had told their omegas to burn, burn, burn until nothing was left. So The Wolf took it upon itself to protect The Oni, its friend, and kill them all. The destruction had only gotten that bad because they had all struggled and tried to flee. If they had really wanted to die, they would have let The Wolf slice their throats open. Slitting throats was a faster way to go then slitting stomachs, anyway.

But no, no, The Oni kept repeating over and over that the killing was wrong, that they should have been arrested for their crimes. It was not The Wolf’s duty to enact vengeance or justice. This was none of their business.

The fight continued on her mind, The Oni and The Wolf fighting for control. Frustration, Chizuru howled to the sky, both sides cursing their unfortunate, cruel fates.

* * *

 

Chikage looked up from his sake cup, tilting his head slightly to the side and listening carefully.

The wail was unlike previous nights where he would catch a wolf howl. In fact, it sounded enraged or frustrated. Once the howl faded, Chikage stared out the window of the room he was temporarily lodging it.

On the subject of animals, Chikage’s mind drifted to this afternoon, where he crossed blades with the Shinsengumi’s vice commander. He had continued to play with Hijikata Toshizo until Amagiri came, sadly spoiling the fun.

Although, admittedly, he had gotten slightly bored without the female oni around. There was so much mystery surrounding her origins. After all, female oni were rare; he couldn’t think of one female who wasn’t safely guarded by her family.

Yet there she was, protecting a human from him, a fellow oni. And again, near Mount Tennou.

Chikage did wish he had some more time in talking with the girl. Perhaps he would have figured out her identity if he had demanded her surname. There were two things he could surmise about her thus far; one was that she came from a direct family line and, she possessed a kodachi crafted by oni hands.

But that was all he knew, and that frustrated him. A female oni of pure blood was especially hard to come by, and when one is practically dropped on his lap, he felt it was his duty to remove her from her current situation. Most likely she or a member of her family was indebted to someone in the Shinsengumi. Why else would she be there? Especially, with what Amagiri told him, there was so unsavory rumors about the Shinsengumi.

One particular rumor that caught his attention was the apparent creation of demonic beings incapable of dying. That rumor seemed to hold some ground, and Amagiri was currently looking into its validity. Another rumor had just begun today, over the mauled corpses from Mount Tennou.

Chikage himself didn’t know what had happened in that clearing. A (rather small) part of him had felt pity for those warriors who had gone up there to cut open their stomachs. It’s not like he cared about humans, but he was willing to acknowledge a man’s desire to die in a certain fashion. Still, it had been a fleeting feeling, lasting only for a few moments before another emotion took over.

A sense of dread.

Judging by how the corpses were handled, they were dealing with something ruthless. Even the hagureoni (rogue oni) had standards, and he had never heard of something capable of tearing a person limb from limb. Well, except from old wives’ tales and ghost stories.

 _Either way_ , Chikage picked up the sake cup, a smile slowly forming on his lips, _I can’t let this just slide. For the sake of fellow oni, I will get to the bottom of this._

* * *

 

Heisuke touched the banana he had hidden under his night gown again, making sure it was there. He felt somewhat ridiculous for carrying it around, but after having tried and failed on finding any traces of the beast, he had attempted to work on his style of tracking it down.

Three days ago, he had snuck some smelly leftovers from dinner, something Souji had cooked up that, in all honesty, shouldn’t even be fed to dogs, much less people. He had hoped, however, that the smell would lure the creature out.

It hadn’t, and he had been stuck explaining to Hijikata when his clothes stunk that morning.

This time around, he had grabbed a banana, relieved he wouldn’t have to be dealing with rancid food if he fails.

Although, the concept of failure didn’t matter to Heisuke. He had to find this creature, some kind of proof of its existence, to show that something had come to the Shinsengumi headquarters. He wasn’t going to stop until he proved its existence, no matter what.

With the full moon as his only guide, he stalked outside the compound, occasionally checking the banana. He was about to round the corner to the Yagi bathhouse when Sano, looking slightly disheveled, stepped out. The spearman nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Heisuke, but then again, Heisuke didn’t fare any better, yelling and stumbling back.

It was only when both parties realized who the other was that they calmed down.

“Dammit, Sano-san!” Heisuke snapped, relief in his tone, “When did you become a ninja? You just came out of nowhere!”

“I could say the same to you,” Sano replied, smirking. “Normally, you’re a lot louder, Mr. Forerunner.”

“Haha, very funny.” Heisuke looked behind the tall redhead towards the bathhouse, his eyebrow perked. “What were you doing in there?”

Suddenly, a flicker of something, Heisuke didn’t know what, flashed over Sano’s face before disappearing back into a smile. “Stuff.” His gaze cast downward, and the smile widened. “Hey, Heisuke, you got something in your gown, or you just happy to see me?”

“Huh?” Heisuke placed his hand on the banana, realizing the position it was in and how it was most likely looking like to everyone else. “N-no!” He jerked out the banana and pointed at it fiercely. “I’m just looking for the monster I saw a month ago! That’s all!”

“With a banana?” Sano placed his hands on hips, unconvinced.

Heisuke nodded, shoving the banana out in front of him. “You bet! This is my bait. I tried using other types of food, but it never came out. But this time, for sure, I’ll catch it in the act!”

“If you say so.” Sano shook his head, then, suddenly, a thought struck him. He looked back at Heisuke, his voice now stern. “Heisuke, don’t talk about this monster of yours around Chizuru, okay? Even if you do find evidence of it.”

Heisuke lowered the banana to his side. “Huh? Why?”

“You heard about the conditions the bodies were in, right?”

“Oh.” That’s right. Hijikata had made a big hubbub about it, gathering the rest of the troops and informing of what the unit on site already knew. Heisuke had felt sick at the thought of someone’s colon being used as a noose. And there was the detail of—

“Chizuru was the one who…”

Sano nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I’m guessing Hijikata-san wants to keep this issue hush-hush, not just for our sakes, but for Chizuru, too. She apparently took it pretty hard. Can’t blame her.”

Heisuke hung his head. Scratching the back of his head, he nodded and smiled up at Sano. “Don’t you worry, Sano-san!” he declared. “I won’t say a word of this to Chizuru-chan! This is my mission and mine alone!”

Sano laughed. “Yeah, it sure is. Well, I hope the best for you. Just, uh, make sure you don’t traumatize anyone in your attempts, okay?”

“Hey, it was an accident! Don’t get the wrong idea, okay?!? Sano-san! Sano-san, don’t you dare tell Shinpattssuan!”

* * *

 

Somewhere in Edo, at the same time…

“Kaoru! Kaoru, for kami’s sake, slow down!”

In the darkness, said individual raised his lupine head, snorting before turning and trotting away on all four. His traveling companion sighed, shaking his head before continuing on following the wolf-like creature in the night.

The moonlight lit the deserted streets of the suburban area, allowing the older man to see where he was going with relative ease. His furry companion, Kaoru, had no need for the extra light, his keen yellow eyes glaring through the open street, occasionally pausing to sniff before moving on.

The man had, at first, been concerned with allowing Kaoru to roam the streets out in the open, but, from a distance, he could see why Kaoru had insisted it would be fine. From the back, and with the distance he had, Kaoru merely looked like a large white furred wolf. His feet and hands were positioned in such a way that they gave the illusion of paws if one bothered to not notice the long fingers and presence of a thumb.

Still, the only people at this time of night were the drunks and ill-willed, and neither would be believed if they decided to sprout out how they had seen a manwolf walking the streets of Edo. And Kaoru failed to show any signs of human-like intelligence, behaving perfectly like any animal. Civilians would be hard pressed to buy such a fable, especially with more important things to worry about, like how Kyoto had apparently been burned in a fire and the Imperial Palace attacked.

Perhaps it was a good thing these events happened the night Dr. Matsumoto Ryojun and his apprentice Kaoru decided to follow through with the request of a young Chizuru, daughter of Ryujon’s friend, Dr. Yukimura.

Kaoru had been rather insistent on responding to Chizuru’s call for help. Ryojun couldn’t blame the boy either; it had been nine years since he had lost his twin sister, who ironically bore the same name as Kodo’s daughter.

Kaoru and Chizuru had never met, sadly, due to Ryojun never officially adopting Kaoru until last year, and the lack of Ryojun going over to Kodo’s clinic in the past year as well. Admittedly, he had found it first amusing to see Chizuru and Kaoru looking both very similar, and he been too foolish to not put two-and-two together when Kaoru mentioned how he had a twin sister named Chizuru.

The parallels were too suspicious to be coincidental, he had to admit. Honestly, what were the chances of there being two Chizurus out there that looked like Kaoru? Sadly, though, with Ryojun’s job as a physician, he had little time to actually attempt to check in on Chizuru. Mishandling of the mail had led to a further delay, and now here they both were, searching for Kodo’s house to see if Chizuru was alright.

Ryojun had already arrived during the day. Chizuru had not been at home, and one of her neighbors, a chattery lady, told him that she had left months ago. Ryojun realized that now he might be too late to try and attempt to contact Chizuru, but there was one thing that he had up his sleeve that could track her down.

The clinic was where Ryojun finally caught up to Kaoru. He was already nose to the ground, sniffing heavily so as to pick up a scent. Kaoru was no longer curling his fingers toward his palm, exposing long black claws and thick, furry fingers. When entering the empty house, Ryojun noticed the two little ivory horns sticking out of the boy’s forehead.

Oni. That was what Kaoru called himself when he had met the boy. Thinking back, Ryojun couldn’t shake the image of the mangy, skinny child he had found all those years ago. He could still see the various bruises and cuts on the small body that were slowly healing, with one large scar bolting over and around the left shoulder blade.

According to Kaoru, all but the scar was from his former family. They had apparently kicked him out when the full moon came out, when he became the thing sniffing around the empty home of his friend. The scar, however, was from an entirely different incident, involving his deceased sister and a giant wolf.

Werewolf, actually.

Ryojun never admitted aloud to anyone, but he was well versed in the knowledge of monsters and yokai. He knew that oni existed long before meeting Kaoru, and he also knew werewolves existed, long before meeting Kaoru and seeing the transformation himself.

In fact, he had been the one to teach Kaoru had to control his inner beast, to hone it and keep it at bay. In return, Kaoru would be living with Ryojun’s family, until they could figure out just what to do with this orphan.

The two had a long history together, Kaoru and Ryojun. Ryojun didn’t know what Kaoru thought of him, but he had come to think of the boy as a nephew left to him by a dear sister. Someone precious to treasure, yet also guide.

_“Crash!”_

Torn from his thoughts, Ryojun glared at Kaoru, who was standing upright, hands empty, with a broken vase shattered at his large, fur-covered feet.

Giving his mentor a shaky grin, Kaoru moved towards the back of the house quickly. Ryojun sighed, rubbing his temples. “Kaoru, the least you can do is clean up after yourself.”

He heard a whine of protest, and he chuckled. _Children these days._

* * *

 

_ ~*September 15, 1864*~ _

* * *

 

The day was long and hot.

Hajime noted this condition, despite his tolerance to the heat. Then again, it wasn’t his tolerance to the heat he was concerned about. His unit seemed to be fairing fine, but he took note to keep an eye on the ones he knew who were less heat tolerant. That included his charge, Yukimura.

Personally, Hajime had a hard time believing that Dr. Yukimura had a daughter, let alone one as… expressive as her. Yet the facts were as such, and Hajime saw no qualms with letting her patrol with him during the day.

In fact, thus far, Yukimura had proven to be useful whenever she was brought with the Shinsengumi. Granted, it had only been twice, but in both cases she had proven herself as being capable of watching out for her own wellbeing. Plus, her medical knowledge from watching with clients with her father had some uses, even if it was as extensive as, say, Sannan or, of course, Hijikata’s family medicine.

Speaking of Hijikata’s family medicine, Hajime made a note to ask the vice commander for a dose. One of his men seemed to be having difficulty with his shoulder, most likely due to a confrontation earlier during the week. The medicine worked wonders, and it would surely give the soldier relief from his discomfort.

And since he was planning on requesting from medicine, Hajime needed to do several other things on top of that. All the while thinking of the things he needed to do when he returned from patrol, he heard Yukimura complain lightly about the heat.

Understandable, in Hajime’s opinion. He placed his hand on the hilt of his katana, noting the heat could cause severe wear on his blade. He made note to clean the blade immediately, right after requesting the medical powder from Hijikata.

Just then, amidst his thoughts, Hajime caught the glint of something in the corner of his eye. Turning slightly, he found the source; a sword was set out on display in a shop.

His feet moving with little prompting, Hajime walked up to the display, scanning the details of the blade. The _toshin_ (bare blade) seemed to curve elegantly, the _ha_ glittering in the burning heat. The back of the blade reflected perfectly the images presented before it, with the center and edge of the _sori_ was more matte, giving it a water-like pattern, resembling the rippling waves of the ocean.

Such a marvelous work of art, he thought, admiring the craftsmenship. It was most likely the work of a master, or a well-trained apprentice.

A giggle behind him alerted him to another’s presence. Turning, he saw Yukimura looking back at him with a small smile on her face. “What are you looking at, Saito-san?” she asked lightly, glancing over his shoulder at the display case.

Embarrassment grasped his heart, and he coughed awkwardly, drawing attention back to him and away from the object in question. “Just admiring fine artwork,” was all he said, moving away from the store, his ears burning red. He heard Yukimura plead with him to slow down as she ran after him.

Again. It happened again. He had spaced out and lost sight of his surroundings. It won’t happen again, though. Nope, it most certainly won’t.

* * *

 

Later that evening, Hajime was working on some files Hijikata had requested him to go over when he heard a strange sound.

It first came in the form of a thud. Hajime paused in his writing and glanced over his shoulder. Had Shinpachi collapsed from too much to drink again? When he heard nothing, he merely shrugged it off and went about to continue his work.

That’s when the second noise came.

This one was much quieter, yet lasted far longer. It sounded like something being dragged along the floor boards. Something light, since it hardly made a noise.

Something must be in front of his door. Thinking back to the beginning of the year and their misadventures with the cat, Hajime set his ink brush down and stood up. Whatever it was, he should investigate in case it was something serious. Hijikata and Sannan were still investigating the mysterious deaths of the Choshu leaders, and with Heisuke still going on and on about seeing something, it would be in the Shinsengumi’s best interest if he set out to settle every curious thing that happened.

Sliding his screen door open, he, at first, saw nothing. The blue light coming from the full moon lit the area up nicely, as his room faced the pale celestial body in the sky. Turning his head back and forth, he saw nothing noteworthy—

_“Shhhhhh.”_

The sound again. This time, he found the source of the noise, only to double take at what he was seeing.

A dead squirrel, its glassy eyes staring up into space, lay on the floor board. A large blood stain marked the path it was being dragged, the lifeblood coming from its torn abdomen. Its tail had disappeared over the edge of the floor, and it was then that Hajime witnessed _something_ drag the carcass toward the edge.

Hajime watched, wide eyed, as the dead animal slowly reached the edge of the floor boards before half of its body hang over, and then finally disappearing entirely into a bush. The bush in front of his room rustled a bit, and Hajime chanced taking a step forward.

He knew that there was the rare occasion of one of their ‘projects’ getting out. Hajime honestly hoped it was one of the projects that had gotten on the loose and had developed a taste for squirrels. Otherwise, he had no idea what this was.

He blinked; at that moment precise moment, something large, something impossibly white, darted out of the bush and over the fence in one clear motion. It had moved so fast that Hajime could only remember catching the vague size and color of the creature.

Warrior intuition taking hold, he ran after it, struggling to get over the tall wooden planks before throwing himself over. Landing on both feet, he stumbled slightly before straightening. Looking around, he saw no sign of the thing.

He was about to see if he could find the thing in the near vicinity when his eyes caught something beneath his feet. Squatting down, he placed his hand on the indention made on the ground. It was only when he spread his hand out and noted the differences in scale that he rushed back to the compound, out of breath and demanding to see Hijikata _immediately_.

* * *

 

_ ~*October 15, 1864*~ _

* * *

 

Tonight was a full moon.

It was also a few weeks since Heisuke had left for Edo, back in September. Chizuru had remembered that conversation with Heisuke, with him promising to see if there was any news of her father being sighted or returning to his clinic. Honestly, Chizuru hoped that was the case. If that ended up happening, there was a good chance she could finally leave the compound and return home.

When Heisuke left, however, Chizuru had become very lonely. Heisuke happened to be one of the people she identified as an ally, and with him gone, she felt like she was missing a piece of armor.

Heisuke wasn’t the only to head off to Edo. Kondo, this morning, left for Edo to join up with Heisuke. Apparently, according to the other captains, the two were attempting to increase their ranks, as the Shinsengumi was given permission to pursue all the criminals behind the Kyoto burning, and they needed more soldiers to fill in the gaps.

They were also seeking to add a military advisor, a man named Itou Kashitaro. Apparently, he was a very well educated man and, according to Kondo, would make an excellent addition to the ranks.

Chizuru herself didn’t know. The other captains seemed reserved about the idea of Itou joining the Shinsengumi. Something about different political beliefs and such, but that mattered little to Chizuru. As long as this Itou did not case suspicion on Chizuru’s true nature, she was fine. Besides, if he could help in the search for Chizuru’s father, the more the merrier.

Thinking back to Heisuke, she thought maybe it was for the better. She did remember how he was hung up on trying to find the creature he saw several nights ago, his ambition seemingly fueled by some kind of commotion. A few weeks away would distract him, and hopefully, make him forget all about those few full moons ago. Perhaps even having this Itou man here would help calm him down.

Thinking back to the last full moon, she admitted she had been a bit clumsy in handling her food. She had caught the squirrel and was planning on eating it when it had fallen from her hands onto the ground below. Immediately, she jumped into the nearby bushes and grabbed hold of the squirrel, nudging it carefully towards her.

She had been careful on not being seen. She had listened carefully, waiting for any noises to come. When none came, she dashed up and over the fence, through the city to a nearby roof and finish her midnight snack.

She was sure she had not been seen. Yet the captains seemed oddly on edge. Not around her, thankfully, which, at the end of the day, was what really mattered. So as long as they never suspected her, she was safe.

She had taken to going on nightly trips around Kyoto since the incident on Mount Tennou. She had cooped herself up for too long, and now her wolf side was antsy and out of control. And since running free around the city, she had found herself having an easier time controlling her behavior and urges. She would catch small game while out and about, such as mice, rats, various birds, and the occasional squirrel. She didn’t touch the human owned animals, knowing too well what would happen if someone’s livelihood went missing, and she had a personal stance against eating cats and rabbits, wild or not. Also, and this was probably a werewolf thing, she could never get herself to think about eating a dog. Not that she ever would, but still, her own body seemed resist against the concept, and Chizuru happily went with it.

Chizuru sighed happily, rolling on her back, a gentle breeze ruffling her milky white fur. It felt so nice to be outside, taking in the open air and gentle breeze. The entire city was opened to her at this point, and it gave her a perfect chance to seek out her father.

She had made sure to stay on the deserted roads and stick to rooftops. No one bothered looking up, and if a particular scent happened to take her to the main street, so as long as she remained skyward, she could avoid complete detection.

Rolling back to her stomach, she lifted her head and sniffed the air. Booze, sweat, perfume and sex. She was most likely near the red light district, judging by the various scents mixing in. The area was also heavily crowded, making it hard to pick out individual markers.

Scrunching her nose, she huffed and left the area. No good would come from this place. Even if her father was there, she could not pick out his scent from her position. Perhaps she could find his lodgings. She couldn’t find his scent anywhere near the main street, and she had explored a small inch of the backend alleys. Surely, if he had been kidnapped, his kidnappers would have been smart enough to keep him away from prying eyes.

Padding along the roof tops on all four, she sniffed the air, trying to pick something up. Then, she caught something. Something familiar.

She peeked her head over the side, sniffing eagerly. The road was completely void of life, with no one in sight. Directly below her were two barrels, a perfect place to hide in case someone were to come walking by. At least they would give her some cover until the individual passed, should someone stumble down this road.

Taking the chance, she leapt down the roof. Landing on the ground on two feet, she crouched down, sniffing the dirt road.

Her father! She could smell him. A recent trail, as the scent was still fresh.

Her heart swelling with joy, she kept her nose glued to the ground and followed the trail, oblivious to all other surroundings. Nothing could contain her excitement, not even her cautious nature. Her father was at the end of the trail, or, worst case scenario, a clue to his whereabouts. She couldn’t believe her luck, especially with how everything was going at the Shinsengumi headquarters. Things were finally looking up for this unfortunate werewolf.

* * *

 

Things were most definitely not looking up to this unfortunate werewolf.

Her back arched and hair standing up, she let out a growl, threatening growl, baring glistening white teeth.

Three ronin surrounded, drunk and stupid, one barely able to stand up straight without leaning on his friend’s shoulder.

Her encounter with these men had happened so fast that Chizuru didn’t know where exactly she went wrong. She had merely been following her father’s scent when she reached a corner. Then, out of the blue, these three men had appeared. They didn’t react quite as she expected, as instead of running and flee at the sheer size and appearance of her wolf form, they had gawked, pointed, and laughed.

The Wolf had become immediately offended. Laugh at her, will they? They certainly won’t be laughing for long once she torn one of their throats out.

However, The Oni had no interest in repeating what had happened on Mount Tennou. If The Wolf attacked, the slaying would be even worse, as she was now in werewolf form, not her werewolf-influenced oni form. Her claws would do far more damage than sharpened fingernails, and her razor sharp teeth tore into flesh far easier than four sharp canines.

Still, as she made herself bigger and meaner by arching her back and growling, her opponents did not waver.

One even stupidly reached for his sword, saying something along the lines of skinning her and wearing her fur as a coat.

To increase the level of danger, she rose on two legs and bared her claws. Her form towered over all three men, and the tipsy one was now beginning to look scared. His friend with the sword, though, seemed to take her stance as a challenge, and, yelling out a battle cry, he charged at her, jamming his sword into her side.

She felt no pain. She only felt rage and animalistic power. She saw red before her claws dug into her attacker’s throat, ripping his trachea and spine clear out of his body. No longer having any support, he fell limply to the ground, never to move again as blood and fluids pooled out of his body.

The non-tipsy friend cried out in anger and unsheathed his blade. But before he had a chance to strike, his head was sliced clean off, sailing clear into the air.

The tipsy one screamed like a girl and ran for it. He only took two steps before stumbling, and he never got the chance to get up, the monster on top of him, the powerful jaw wrapping itself around his skull and cracking it two like an egg. Brain fluids drained out of the broken skull, and the jawbone of the victim was broken roughly off its hinges.

Once the carnage was over, and Chizuru regained her senses, she panicked at the sight of the bodies. Not again, was all she thought as she scrambled away, forgetting her hunt, forgetting to be quiet. She just wanted out.

* * *

 

The next morning, the Shinsengumi unit out on patrol came upon the three maimed bodies of three Satsuma samurai. While the manner of death varied among the three victims, Souji, the one leading the group, noted they had bore similar wounds.

Claw marks riddled the corpses, all in different places, yet with the consistency of size and general shape. Souji also noted the rather large prints on the ground, not too far from the crime scene. Looking up on the wooden walls, he saw bloody claw mark, showing that whatever did this had scaled the walls and fled via rooftop. A terrifying notion, seeing as how much power the creature possessed. And while the prints did not match the ones found in front of HQ, Souji was pretty damn sure they were dealing with the same creature.

Putting two-and-two together, Souji realized that Heisuke might not have been lying. After all, this was the second time a heinous killing had happened, and Souji felt that this was not the actions of their secret experiment.

Either way, he had to speak to Sannan privately over this. Maybe one of those things had gotten loose and went completely ape shit. He knew just what those things were capable of. There could still be a chance that it was their experiment and not something else.

Even though, in Souji’s gut, he was having a really hard time believing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found a katana diagram for Saito's bit. Also, I have no idea if the Japanese had bananas in Edo Japan.


	8. Fate has a Cruel Hand

_He was going to die here._

_He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop the thing from taking his life, here and now._

_How it is go so horribly wrong? When did it go so horribly wrong? Why was he facing this horrible, unearthly creature, with no hope on beating it, no hope in getting away from it?_

_Perhaps it began months ago, when the bodies were discovered…_

* * *

 

_~*October 16, 1864*~_

* * *

 

"Well, Sannan-san, you think it could be one of  _them_  who did this?"

Souji offered the question casually, as if he was suggesting what to eat for dinner, despite the weight of the subject and persons involved brought. Sannan, however, was not bothered by the question posed. He furrowed his brow, his brown eyes flickering back and forth as he scanned the written reports thoroughly. Taking a deep breath, he finally looked up from the papers and frowned at Souji. "In my honest opinion, it seems impossible for them to be responsible. These wounds are too…"

"Animalistic?" Souji barked out a laugh. "Yeah, Hajime-kun said the same thing. In fact, he's convinced he may have seen the same thing that did those guys in."

"Oh?" Sannan set the papers down. "In any case, we'll have to keep our options open to all possibilities. I highly doubt one of the subjects got loose, as I have repeatedly checked, so even if this could be connected, it's most definitely not from our side."

"Then," Souji's eyes wandered towards the lab behind Sannan, narrowing at the sight of the red liquid inside the various shaped vials, "are you suggesting that those Choshu have it?"

Sannan shrugged. "I cannot say. But so as long as we do not know the whereabouts of the doctor, someone else could very well be using his knowledge of the formula. Hence why I keep urging Hijikata-kun to increase search parties. The longer Kodo-kun is away, the more I worry and expect the worse."

"No one in their right minds would kill a Western-trained doctor," Souji murmured, bowing his head.

Sannan eyed the young man over the rim of his round glasses and sighed loudly. Souji looked up curiously, only for Sannan to smile in response and pat Souji's shoulder. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. As I told Hijikata-kun, there is very little chance of this being the work of the ochimizu. For now, we shall continue investigating, and I'm sure we'll find the source in no time."

* * *

 

_~*November 13, 1864*~_

* * *

 

Those words from Sannan's had put Souji's mind at ease, yet it only confirmed his other fear; of there being something else, something no one could control and no one knew about.

He remembered the meeting after the investigation. Hijikata had been in a frenzy, questioning everyone, big and small, ally, onlooker, and even enemy. His frightening demeanor had gotten some quick answers, even from the more rebellious bunch, and they all said the same thing.

No one knew what did this.

Weeks passed, and the questions piled up. Was this a warning from someone on the other side, a precursor of things to come? But if that were so, why weren't the Choshu rubbing this in? And why in this style? Was this an assassination? An accident? So many questions, yet no answers.

Kondo was still in Edo, away on business to expand the Shinsengumi, when the investigation over the three mysterious deaths began. Hijikata had sent Kondo a letter immediately to the commander with the news. He had also requested Kondo continue acting as usual, as creating a panic in Edo was the last thing the Shinsengumi needed, especially with things going so well.

Souji didn't think it was a good idea, personally. He thought Hijikata was taking this investigation all wrong. Interviewing the citizens of Kyoto hadn't yielded any fruit, and imposing these ridiculous curfews didn't get them any closer to finding this mysterious killer.

Yet he couldn't argue with Hijikata's reasoning either. Interviewing the citizens might have, under normal circumstances, gone nowhere, but the people of Kyoto had become fearful. Rumors of just what killed those men had gotten out of control, with yokai and demon possession being favors stories to tell, but Kyoto no longer saw the Shinsengumi as a threat. After all, the Shinsengumi was making an extra effort to protect the citizens, and the people, even hardcore loyalists, saw the benefit of aiding the Shinsengumi in finding whatever caused these unfortunate deaths.

It was an even bigger shock when a representative from the Satsuma han came to Aizu with the promise of aid, should the Shinsengumi or Aizu find the killer. These killings were actually doing a lot of good, all things considered, as it was putting formidable enemies as allies. Then again, there was the saying of, "An enemy of my enemy is my friend."

But of course, these were unsolved murders, and gruesome ones at that. The city was still plagued with fear, no matter how much damage control the Shinsengumi attempted to do to calm the people. This got the city wide curfew enacted in order to prevent future slayings, and the ripples of this and the general atmosphere made Souji lose one of the few pleasures he had; playing the local children.

Fathers and mother prevented their children from playing in the streets even in the daytime. Sons and daughters had to be escorted by their family everywhere, the fear of a dangerous monster lurking around every corner fresh in everyone's minds.

On this particular day, Souji found himself unbelievably bored. Hijikata, ever the mother hen he was, caught Souji having a nasty coughing fit and forced the captain to take the day off. Of course, under normal circumstances, he would have gone to wander the city, entertaining the children in the neighborhood and eating sweets along the way. And maybe ignore a few of his comrades, should he run across one.

Ah, but alas, Hijikata was as bad as the frightened parents, making Souji promise that he wouldn't leave the compound at all. Which meant Souji was left to be impossibly, unbearably bored.

Until he ran into Chizuru, busy at work sweeping the compound. Her head was bowed, a slight frown on her lips. A… very uncharacteristic thing of her, yet she had been moody for an entire month since the murders were reported. Souji suspected the grisly details (despite Hijikata and some of the other captains doing their best) had somehow been overheard, and now Chizuru was most likely frightened. After all, this would not be the first she had witnessed a horrific death.

Souji found himself frowning, watching her sweep from a distance. It… oddly bothered him that she looked so miserable. No, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't an oddity, really; more like, it bothered him that a normally positive, happy girl such as Chizuru looked so blue. It didn't seem right, to him, for her to be looking like that, when it was really no fault of her own. Surely, there was something that could—

An idea hit him, and Souji grinned easily as he slipped behind her and tapped her shoulder. She jumped, yelping before whirling around, her big brown eyes wide. He found himself laughing at her facial expression. "Wow, jumpy much?"

She frowned in turn. "That's not funny, Okita-san!" A curious look suddenly came over her face. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

He shrugged, jabbing his thumb in the direction of Hijikata's room. "Hijikata's a huge worrywart. You so as much as sneeze, and he'll put you under house arrest until your final breath. But what about you? You no longer going on patrol anymore?" It had been only a month since Souji had taken Chizuru on patrol, but he had also been switched to night shift a month ago, due to the slayings. He also had been struggling with a bit of a nasty cold, so he ended up being constantly set to his room for "rest," but the "Mommy" Commander of the Shinsengumi.

She shook her head sadly. "No. Hijikata-san said it would be best if I don't go on patrol until new recruits come in."

"Honestly." Souji rolled his eyes. Then he got that familiar tickling sensation in the back of his throat. Dammit, here of all places. He tried to clear his throat at first, but instead of a little, "Ehem," he was hoping to make, he let out a raspy, rattling like sound, startling Chizuru in turn.

"Are you okay?!"

His fist still over his mouth, he glanced over to her. She looked so genuinely concerned. Funny, how, just moments ago, she had such a glum look on her face. But, however it was achieved, she was no longer sad. Now he just had to reassure her he's fine, so she'll finally smile.

He waved her back, a smile on his face. "I'm fine. It's just a stupid cold. Can't seem to shake it off."

"Okita-san, maybe you should get some rest."

"I'm getting plenty of rest."

It was quiet again, and Souji noticed the sad look returning slowly to Chizuru's face. Mentally frowning, he bent over, smiling directly at her. "Hey, wanna know a secret?"

"Huh?" Her big brown eyes fluttered, confusion written all over her face. At least she was an easy read, Souji thought as he externally smirked.

"Yeah, Hijikata-san's got a dirty, little secret. I could tell you, if you want." He kept his tone light, waving a finger back and forth in front of her face. However, the exact opposite of a reaction came over her face as Chizuru exclaimed, "Oh no, I can't—"

Realizing his error, he laughed nonchalantly. "No, no, it's nothing like that. Really, you won't get killed for it, I promise."

"Oh." She looked away, as if checking if anyone was watching. When he noticed it, he chuckled, a little too loudly, alerting her and causing her to look up at him in shock and then anger.

"Okita-san, this isn't funny." He noticed how her knuckles turned white as she gripped the broom hard, and he swore he heard the broom handle crack on the pressure, but dismissed as leaves rustling somewhere.

"What?" Souji replied, shrugging. "If you don't want to know, you just have to say so."

"I'm not playing games with you right now!" she suddenly snapped. Souji froze, stunned by her sudden outburst. Was it… did he piss her off? That easily? It normally took more than that, and while yes, Chizuru sometimes seemed to develop a biting tongue during a rare moment, she had never barked at him as she were impersonating Hijikata.

It unnerved him, and suddenly, he felt like he should say something, fix whatever damage he had done. But all he did was laugh. Was that what set her off?

Maybe it was. Chizuru just seemed so moody and tense for the past month. No, it hadn't been for a whole month. It had been ever since Kinmon. She seemed to withdraw into her cocoon more and more. She always seemed so stressed out, more so that he thought.

Could he be the cause of it? Admittedly, he did take a liking to kicking the hornet's nest, but maybe he finally crossed some kind of line. Either way, he didn't want to antagonize Chizuru to the point of her hating him. He didn't want that, honestly.

Before he could make a move, Chizuru recoiled, now practically hugging the broom closely. "A-ah," she struggled desperately, "I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have—"

"No, it's fine." He reached out, patting her head gently. "Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed."

Her soft, brown eyes brightened a bit, and that caused Souji to genuinely smile back. Somehow, it relived him that she gotten better. "Thank you, Okita-san," she then stated, pulling away and bowing. She then turned and left. Souji watched her go, watching as the saddened look returned to her face.

Maybe, just maybe, he can lessen his teasing, for now, until she was back to normal. Seeing her like this, it just felt off.

A frown really didn't suit her.

* * *

 

_~*January 11, 1865*~_

* * *

 

December came and went, with Kondo finally returning. Chizuru hadn't transformed in two months, too terrified to open her windows and let the moonlight seep in. Even when the panic of the murders had faded somewhat, the trail long lost, she couldn't.

She just couldn't. She had not just killed once, but twice. And it was multiple in both cases.

How quickly she had forgotten The Wolf's power. How stupidly she had thought she had complete control.

It wasn't safe; it would never be safe.

She was never safe.

That thought broke her heart to pieces, and that thought stayed with her for weeks. She desperately wanted companionship, but her inner Wolf had always been the leash to hold her back. She had to always walk on egg shells, tiptoeing the boundaries of being friendly and being friends, and with Kinmon, and then that night a few months ago… She couldn't chance it anymore. It would be best if she simply pushed everyone away, keep it professional like the day she felt came he—

"Oi, Chizuru-chan, can I come in?"

The sound of Nagakura's voice shocked her. Blinking, she looked over her shoulder and replied, "Um, sure. Come in."

"Thanks!" Nagakura opened and closed the door quickly, ducking inside quickly. "Geez, it's freezing! Aren't you cold?"

The chill of winter blew in through the cracks of the window. Chizuru shivered, hugging herself. When had it become so cold? She didn't notice until now. Then again, she was too lost in her own abyss to notice it. It was as cold inside as it was outside.

"Um," she began, not sure how to word it, when she noticed the thing Nagakura had carried inside.  _A heater…?_ she thought to herself as Nagakura began to work on the fire inside, heating the room up slowly.

"Brr." He shivered comically, rubbing his hands together. "Man, I hate this time of year. Too cold. Sano doesn't mind the cold, though. I don't get him."

Chizuru blinked, looking up at Nagakura in confusion. What was he doing here, in her room? She had invited him in, but what had brought him here in the first place? Was Harada out, and Nagakura was merely seeking out some company?

When she didn't respond to Nagakura's words, he beckoned her to come closer. "You're not going to warm up that far away," he said, gesturing to the fire. "Come on. Despite what Heisuke told you, I don't bite."

"Oh, okay." Cautiously, she slid closer to the little heater, holding her hands up, surprised as how good the heat felt on her hands. They sat like for a while, eventually making idle chatter about trivial things. Neither knew how long the two chatted, but Nagakura was eventually interrupted by the arrival of Shimada. Nagakura left, promising to return in a bit, but he invited her to keep the fire going to stay warm. "Can't have our charge freezing up on us, right?" he stating, smiling playfully at her.

Chizuru couldn't help but let a little giggle out, the first one in awhile, and, for some reason, that caused Nagakura's smile to widen significantly. Despite going back at into the cold, he seemed chirper, and as she watched him go, she found herself envying him.

Yet, it was nice to know he cared. In fact, everyone was showing some form of consideration. Okita told jokes instead of poking fun at her. Hijikata avoided barking orders at her. Harada brought her little sweets that he purchased while grocery shopping. Inoue chipped in on some of the chores Chizuru did, even though he had to finish his own things. And Kondo and Sannan kept conversations around her lighthearted and completely free of any heavy news. And even though Heisuke was still in Edo, he had apparently expressed concern over her wellbeing after hearing about the murders.

She blinked back tears. She really wanted to have people she could call friends. She wanted people who she could trust. She wanted to finally open up and share this inner turmoil with another person. Her father had been her only confidant during the ten long years. Kodo was really the only person she could truly open up to. He was only person she could truly trust, and he wasn't here. These men, these wonderful people, were her only company, and it was made very clear they cared, at least somewhat.

Staring at the fire as it gently crackled, Chizuru let out a sigh and wiped the tears away. The Wolf was terrifying, that much was true. Yet she couldn't, shouldn't let this fear consume her. Her mentor had warned her about the all-consuming fear.

" _You must be brave, Omega-chan. Do not let the fear overtake you. Heed it, respect it, but own it. Do not let it own you."_

 _Thank you, Alpha-jiji_ , she thought, bowing her hands and clasping her hands.  _I will not let this fear take me. I cannot, for my father's sake._

Tonight was a full moon. She will conquer this fear all over again, again and again until she owned it.

* * *

 

_~*February 22, 1865*~_

* * *

 

Sannan felt useless. Utterly, completely, totally useless.

Wincing, he forced his left hand to close. However, the limp, immovable thumb did not move, awkwardly sticking it among the closed fingers.

He couldn't hold his sword properly with the thumb acting as dead weight. No matter what he did, he couldn't regain feeling in his left thumb. It was hopeless.

Looking out the window, Sannan frowned when he noticed Itou, the newest member, chattering happily with some of his students. Sannan had thought bringing Itou would have a good move on Kondo's part. Itou was a well-studied man, but his overall demeanor just stuck out like a sore thumb (no pun intended). It wasn't the way he spoke, or even what he necessarily believed, that truly bothered Sannan. Far from it, even.

It was the feeling of a snake crawling over his body, slowly coiling its body around his neck.

Rubbing his neck, he let out a sigh. Thinking this over and over would not help. While it infuriated Sannan over what Itou had said, he had spoken the truth.

Sannan was useless.

Useless.

Utterly, completely useless.

A red gleam caught his eye at that moment. Words he had spoken, both to Yukimura and Okita, flashed in his mind.

There was still something he could do.

* * *

 

_~*February 23, 1865*~_

* * *

 

It happened so quickly.

Chizuru had worried over Sannan since overhearing the meeting over changing headquarters. The look in his eyes… there was a sense of hopelessness, a feeling she knew all too well, especially in recent months. And because of this, she couldn't just ignore his pain. There had to be something, anything, she could do.

But, as it were, she knew nothing on how to cure Sannan's injury. It seemed incurable. It truly looked hopeless for him.

It was during the night, plagued with these grim thoughts, that Chizuru's sensitive hearing picked up something… curious. Footsteps in the direction towards the Maekawa. The one place she was never allowed near.

Chizuru had dressed herself and went out, curiosity getting the better of her. Who was out at this time? It couldn't be Heisuke on his hunt for her werewolf self, as he was still in Edo. It seemed likely, but when she had caught sight of Sannan, she immediately dismissed it.

She kept quiet as she followed him, thoughts buzzing around her mind. What was he doing out at this time? Where was he going? Why was he going to the other house?

Stupid her, she then got the idea that Sannan was thinking of committing seppuku. Thinking this, she then burst out and announced her presence, begging him not to do such a thing. Sannan's reaction to her was… strange, to say the least. He wasn't mad that she had followed him, nor was he concerned about her, the Shinsengumi's secret charge, being out and about, near a building she was forbidden from going near.

He even invited her inside, telling her he should show her something.

Thinking back, she should have run. She should have called for help, she should have, she should have.

But all these should have's did not stop her from following her inside, towards what would change her very world view.

A red liquid in a simple, tiny glass bottle. It would have looked innocent, if not for the sinister way the liquid glowed an unnatural red. She was terrified of the thing the moment she set her eyes on it, and she had barely any time to react when Sannan, in an oddly calm voice, explained what it was.

It was a formula her father had developed, called the ochimizu. It had the power to remake men, granting them great powers, but at a grave cost: their sanity. Sannan admitted that, since her father's disappearance, he had attempted to continue work on the formula with little success. That vial was the product of months of going over research notes left by her father. He had hoped that the formula was deluded enough to not give him the negative side effects.

She attempted to convince him not to do such a thing. Why take such a risk? Why go to such lengths? It was there that Sannan revealed the terrible truth; forced into a corner, forced to admit he was in this corner by Itou, Sannan found his recovery shall never happen without help. And help could come, in the form of the ochimizu. Even if it didn't work, he said, he could still die a man, in hopes of recovering what he had lost. The Shinsengumi, after all, had no need for a useless man.

Chizuru shouted that it wasn't true; Sannan was valuable, and everyone adored him. But she could do nothing as he, with a sad smile on his face, said farewell and drank the vial in one gulp.

She had screamed. Oh kami, she had screamed. And before she knew it, Sannan had joined in her screaming, wailing in agony. But that was only the beginning of hell. In a matter of seconds, Sannan's sandy brown hair changed into a stark white. Those gentle brown eyes hidden by round glasses took on an unearthly red light, burning brightly in the darkness.

It had gone horribly wrong. Sannan had charged at her, demanding her blood. His hands grasped around her throat with strength she had never experienced before. Her instincts took a hold there, her eyes flashing yellow and The Wolf and Oni emerging in a quick burst. Blue wisps of tangible energy seeped out of her pores, flushing Sannan away with a mighty shove. He managed to catch himself right before he smashed into the wall, his red eyes still mad with bloodlust.

The Wolf snarled at the thing before her. Baring long talons for nails and sharp fangs, The Wolf crunched, ready to strike again, should the thing attempt another attack. However, Sannan was never given the chance, noise suddenly flooding around them as a group of familiar people rushed inside, weapons drawn.

Okita moved in first, striking Sannan down with a clean, blunt blow, knocking the other man out. Saito rushed to Sannan's side, watching him warily as Harada and Nagakura immediately grabbed hold of the unconscious deputy. Before Chizuru knew it, Hijikata was in front of her, grabbing her arms and holding her still. In one breath, Hijikata ordered Harada and Nagaura to worry about guarding the entrances to both houses, Saito and Okita to take Sannan to his room. Everyone moved like clockwork, and suddenly, Chizuru was in her own room again, facing against the Demon Commander once again.

In a moment, the hopes that she was finally beginning to belong with these men was shattered. In a moment, she was remained of just what she was to the Shinsengumi, and what they would be willing to do to keep their secrets. Like the first night over a year ago, he stared at her with blank, emotionless eyes. Again, he threatened to kill her if she as much as peeped over what she had seen. And again, somehow, Chizuru had dodged the bullet.

Somehow.

* * *

 

_~*March 12, 1865*~_

* * *

 

The move was no longer a joke. Toshizo made sure to let the monks know that, as well, to clear up any confusion anyone was somehow carrying.

In the past weeks, many things had happened. In one night, Sannan had sent the Shinsengumi abuzz with concern and curiosity. Toshizo honestly wanted to slap his comrade for his irrationality, but he wasn't really one to talk.

A miracle had, thankfully, happened. Despite the numerous amounts of failure, Sannan had managed to regain his sanity and function as a normal human being. Mostly.

The aversion to sunlight and daytime was present, according to Sannan. He had difficulty functioning during the day, experiencing some discomfort being in the sun. This was unfortunate, as the entire point of Sannan taking the medicine was to not experience side effects.

However, according to Sannan, it was mostly a success. His arm was healed. He could gripe things again. He could wield a sword. He was, in every sense of the word, a success. With such a success, Sannan felt confident in continuing the work the doctor had left them, things finally beginning to look hopeful for the formula's weaponization.

But if Sannan couldn't work during the daytime, how would they explain that to Itou and his men. Toshizo did not trust them any more than Chizuru could throw Heisuke. But before he could complain, Sannan offered him a solution.

Spread a rumor that Sannan had attempted to flee from the Shinsengumi. Sannan would even write a note to add merit to the rumor, and then he told Toshizo to send Souji out, as if he was going to retrieve the rogue member.

That, of course, meant that Sannan was willing to pay dead. To be caught fleeing from the Shinsengumi meant death by seppuku, but, according to Sannan, it was the perfect cover-up story.

Toshizo didn't like it. He made well damn sure to everyone that he didn't like it. But he still followed through. The whole nine yards.

And then he pushed for the move. In order to hide the "dead" Sannan from Itou, there needed to be more room. It was hard enough to convince the cunning advisor to generally avoid the Maekawa house. It was even harder now, and Toshizo would never allow for that snake of a man to find out the truth.

The move was made to Nishi Hongan-ji, as he had suggested. The move had been a bit on the bitter side, but everyone seen improved in mood after receiving much needed space.

But even with the move going as planned, even though they had managed to successfully fool Itou and his men, Toshizo couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. Very wrong.

He had heard the screaming first. He and the other captains rushed to the Maekawa house, worried about what was transpiring. Before reaching the room, he heard Sannan's howl for blood, which was oddly meant with a roar of protest.

But not just any roar. A bestial roar that could only belong to an animal. Yet when Toshizo rushed inside, he found no such creature.

Instead, he had found a frightened and confused Chizuru, blinking slowly as her normally honey-colored eyes seemed oddly vibrant and golden in color. Toshizo had merely dismissed it as a trick of the light at the heat of the moment, but looking back, he kept wondering. Was it a trick of the light? This wasn't the first time he had seen Chizuru behave oddly. It certainly didn't feel like the last either.

Which only meant one thing. Keeping a better eye on her, to uncover the secrets this girl held, despite her pleas on being ignorant of her father's work. Even if that were true, there were many other secrets she could hold, being as equally as compromising as the other. And Toshizo was going to be taking no chance.

* * *

 

_~*June 9, 1865*~_

* * *

 

The full moon was high in the clear sky, illuminating the normally dark streets. Chikage took a slow drag from his pipe, watching the empty streets with bored, red eyes.

Little had happened, outside of the move the Mibu wolves had made. It had been a bold move, in Chikage's opinion, and a wise, strategic one. Still, it was typical that the peasants behaved like boors, forcing their way into a house of peace with threat of violence. It honestly disgusted Chikage, to be frank, but he wasn't surprised. Humans typically resorted to violence when they couldn't get their way.

Leaning his head back, Chikage then directed his gaze to the bright moon above his head. If only there were people on the Moon, as stated in the tale of Kaguya-hime. Perhaps then Chikage could interact without people outside his race, with greater sense of dignity and respect for life than humans. But alas, it seemed to not be so.

Amidst his musing, he heard the wail of a beast breaking through the dead of night. It no longer came from the Mibu district, he noticed, which puzzled him a great deal. For three months this had now occurred, and Chikage was behind curious at this point.

Several times he had heard a wolf's cry throughout Kyoto. There were other times where rumors spoke of a large animal stalking the streets of Kyoto, slaughtering innocents and dragging their corpses to the underworld. Even the Satsuma clan had been somewhat shaken when the triple homicide occurred.

Chikage normally wouldn't have cared. Human business was human business, and oni had no reason to involve themselves. Although, the key word was "normally." This case, however, was an exception.

The deaths had been, shall we say, bestial in nature? Claw marks mauled the deceased's skin, bodies torn to shreds, bloody marks twice the size of a man's hand and feet littering the area.

Whatever had killed those humans was not human itself. That was why Chikage felt he had to involve himself. As the head of the Kazama clan, it was a vital part of his job to ensure his clan's safety. If this thing could be a possible threat to oni, it had to be destroyed before it could do any harm.

Furrowing his brow, Chikage set his pipe down and adjusted his kimono. Even so, he had no way of tracking the creature. It was like a ghost, fading away before appearing again, and then fading away again. There were no leads he could start with… Or were there? Perhaps the creature and the wolf cries were connected? It was a ridiculous assumption, but a start. Checking the validity of such an assumption would at least ease him of his boredom, something he desperately needed during this dry period.

Dressing and arming himself, he descended into the empty streets.

* * *

Souji paused, his hand gripping his sword handle. Something had moved through the peripheral view, somewhere up to his left. Slightly tilting his head, he saw nothing, until he returned his gaze forward, catching again a flash of white.

"Continue without me," he told his companion, the seventh captain Tani, as he began to run towards where the flash had appeared. While running, he caught another glimpse, further down the street.

 _A rasetsu was out_ , he thought with a groan. This wasn't good. Kondo wouldn't be happy to hear that one of their men got out. Knowing the commander, he would be more concerned with any innocent people getting hurt than being found out. But that was fine. If Souji happens upon a witness, he'll make sure to silence them this time around.

* * *

The chase led him down several streets, the white flash either far ahead of him or somewhere in a different direction. He was lucky that the thing had constantly jumped from rooftop to rooftop, otherwise he'd never get a chance to catch a glimpse at whatever it was.

He was sure of one thing, though. It was not a rasetsu.

The white flash was… too white. Like, the rasetsu only have white hair, not a completely white body. Either way, he was pursuing it. Whatever it was, he had the sinking suspicious that it could cause trouble.

After all, one does not stumble upon a large, white flash every night.

It was probably only an hour of constantly pursuing, momentarily losing before discovering it again, pursuing again until he, passing through an alley, found a familiar, yet unwelcomed, face.

"You!" Souji hissed, pulling his sword out in a flash. The golden haired ronin arched an eyebrow, looking seemingly disinterested, not even bothering to unsheathe his blade. His red eyes bore the same gaze as that night at Ikedaya, looking at Souji as if he were just a bug. That look enraged the captain, but he really didn't have the time for this. That white thing was still out there, but if this ronin got in his way again, Souji swore he would cut him down without mercy.

"Okita, was it? Pity I have no time for you," the ronin drolled, looking away from the Shinsengumi officer. Under normal circumstances, Souji would have jumped on this, but he noticed how the ronin seemed to be looking for something…

Much how Souji was.

Just when the captain was about to demand why the hell this ronin was out stalking around, a roar suddenly broke through the night. White encompassed everything in a matter of milliseconds, followed closely by a storm of dust.

And then Souji found himself face-to-face with Heisuke's monstrous visitor.

Roaring again, the thing whirled to look at Souji before turning to face the ronin, snarling. In that single moment, Souji comically thought to himself that he had to correct Heisuke on what type of creature he saw. It wasn't an ape as Heisuke had theorized.

Its head was lupine in shape, with a short muzzle, ears placed off to each side of the head, long and pointed. A mane of sorts graced its large head, and the rest of its body was covered head-to-toe with white fur. A tail whipped behind it, moving ferociously as the creature looked at both witnesses fiercely with its piercing golden eyes.

Souji had never seen such a horrific monster before. Looking at its claws and feet, which oddly seemed to resemble human limbs, Souji realized that this creature was responsible for the prints Hajime and he found. Which only caused his stomach to drop when the dots became connected.

This thing was responsible for killing the Choshu bastards on during the Kinmon Rebellion. This thing had slaughtered three ronin on the street a few months ago. This thing had visited the Shinsengumi's headquarters several times, and that was the most frightening part.

… He couldn't let that creature live.

While it turned its head back to look at the ronin, Souji charged at it, crying out as his sword shot out towards the thing's chest.

It didn't turn around fast enough. It howled in pain as the blade penetrated its side. Souji found himself smirking proudly until he saw the thing's claw reach out and grasp the blade in its oversized paw. Before he could react, the free claw jerked out, slapping into his face and knocking him to the side with a loud thud.

Souji barely managed to keep his head from smacking against the ground. His shoulders slammed into the ground, and he coughed loudly, the air flying out of his lungs. Another roar erupted into the air. Through barely open eyes, Souji scrambled to get up, his hands flying to his wakizashi, having lost his katana.

He heard a crunching noise, and upon looking up, Souji saw the thing's back turned, its fist buried deep into the wood of the building, snarling loudly. At the monster's feet was the ronin, clutching a bleeding shoulder while looking furiously at the thing.

Honestly, Souji did not care for the ronin. He hadn't cared when Hijikata had told him the ronin's name; he hadn't cared that the ronin was working for Satsuma, Aizu's temporary ally towards the radical Choshu. However, with everything considered, the ronin had provided him with an opening.

Souji charged again, angling the blade straight for the heart. He watched as the sword slipped through the flesh, cracking through the bone and organs, rapidly approaching the heart until—

The monster roared in agony and lurched back, its large claws snagging Souji's arms and hoisting him up and over, into the air onto the empty street. Landing on his shoulder hard, Souji howled out as he felt something snap and pop. His left arm burned with pain, causing Souji to grind his teeth to keep from screaming. He rolled immediately off his injured arm, trying to fight through the pain, knowing fully well the monster was still there.

As if summoned by his thoughts, he heard the thing stalk over to him, breathing heavy ad growling softly. When its feet came into his central field of sight, he followed the feet up to the large, muscular thighs, the flat stomach and strangely-shaped chest to its face.

Oh, kami, its face.

Its short muzzle was gaping open, large canines catching the light of the moon behind it. Two thick, short bony spikes stuck out of its head, almost invisible amongst the white. But it was the eyes that truly took his breath away. Those large, glowing eyes, with the black pupil was practically a narrow slight and the yellow took up the majority of the eye.

He struggled to stand before the creature was upon him, but it beat him to the punch, literally, by landing a slug straight into his gut. He gagged, his body momentarily going limb as the creature caught him, fisting his haori in one claw. Then he was lifted by his clothing, feeling the breath of the monster against his face.

 _I… I can still… fight_ , he thought weakly as the creature crackled in his face. It pulled its face away from him before throwing him to the ground. He grunted as he hit the dirt before crying out, the monster's huge foot slamming into his backside. With strange, calculated movements, the thing grounded its heel into his spine before lifting its foot and kicking him in the side.

The monster then grabbed his haori again, jerking him upright throwing him again, this time into a barrel. Souji's clothes began soaked as whatever liquid was contained in the barrel, groaning weakly as his vision blurred and his mind swirled.

After a moment, the monster lifted him up again, this time by the scuff of his neck. Once again bringing Souji's face close to its, Souji watched through clouded vision as the monster grinned a huge, disgusting smirk, baring its fangs.

How it is go so horribly wrong? When did it go so horribly wrong? Why was he facing this horrible, unearthly creature, with no hope on beating it, no hope in getting away from it?

He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop the thing from taking his life, here and now.

He was going to die here. He could no longer move his arms, he had no weapons, he could barely see now.

_I… I can no longer… fight…_

The last thing Souji felt was a piercing pain in his left cheek as, he assumed, the creature dragged a long talon along his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Souji's still alive, guys! So don't worry.


End file.
